Mozambique: e-SISTAFE’s challenges, 20 years on

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Mozambique: e-SISTAFE’s challenges, 20 years on

3:28 CAT | 26 Nov 2024

Photo: Ministério da Economia e Finanças

The State Financial Administration System (e-SISTAFE) celebrates its 20th anniversary amidst several challenges, including modernization. The new challenges arise in response to new demands, the growing and diverse needs of public institutions, and uninterrupted access at the desired quality.

The information was shared on Monday (25), in Maputo, by the Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, Amílcar Tivane, during the workshop commemorating the 20th anniversary of e-SISTAFE under the motto “20 Years Modernizing Public Finance Management Processes to Better Serve the Citizen”.

E-SISTAFE is an IT platform supporting Mozambique’s state financial administration system, which aims to centralize, automate and streamline the management of public resources, promoting greater accountability and effectiveness in its application.

Tivane considers e-SISTAFE to be “part of a comprehensive financial reform effort to improve public finance management and increase transparency and efficiency in the administration of state resources”.

Despite advances, Tivane points out as challenges the development of the public procurement component in the state assets module; development of the public debt management module and the financing management module.

Other challenges include the modernisation of the supporting technological infrastructure, with the integration of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, to make the system more efficient, flexible and scalable.

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Among the ongoing activities, Tivane highlights the expansion of e-SISTAFE in diplomatic and consular missions, and the adoption of international accounting standards applied to the public sector (IPSAS).

It should be noted that the e-SISTAFE implementation process was gradual, summarised in three phases: Design and Launch, from 2001 to 2006; Expansion and Consolidation, from 2006 to 2019[; and Growth and Digitalisation, from 2020 to 2024.

Currently, e-SISTAFE is composed of 11 modules, all operational with the exception of the internal audit module, which is under development. “The operationalization of e-SISTAFE consisted of the introduction of the Single Treasury Account (CUT), consolidating the treasury unit, the abolition of the title as an instrument of payment or provision of resources, public accounting by double entry and the establishment of real-time transactions between the national directorates, provincial directorates of planning and finance and the CUT based at the Bank of Mozambique,” Tivane stressed.

The workshop aimed to provide a historical overview of the public procurement, planning and budgeting processes, and the evolution of accounting with the use of information provided by e-SISTAFE, over the 20 years of its implementation.

Representatives from the government, the National Association of Municipalities, the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA), cooperation partners, civil society, mobile phone companies (Movitel and Vodacom) and others participated in the event.

Source: AIM Moçambique