Mozambique scores below continental average in Public Service Delivery Index in Africa- AfDB

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Mozambique scores below continental average in Public Service Delivery Index in Africa- AfDB

1:42 CAT | 30 May 2025

Image: AfDB

Mozambique has 44.05 points out of 100, below the African average (45.39), in the first edition of the Public Service Delivery Index (PSDI in Africa – 2024 Report released yesterday by the African Development Bank (ADB).

“The Public Service Delivery Index (PSDI) score for Mozambique is 44.05. This is below the continental and Southern Africa regional averages of 45.39 and 48.11, respectively,” the report reads.

Across the five dimensions assessed, “public service delivery in Power and electricity is ranked the highest, with a 51.56 score, followed by Socioeconomic inclusion (49.09), Food sovereignty (43.45), Regional integration (43.01), and Industrialization (35.07)”.

“Moderate satisfaction” with the quality of services received was the assessment made by Mozambican households in response to a survey included in the report.

“Despite a tripling of agricultural output over the past 20 years, mainly by expanding cultivation areas, per capita growth has been limited,” notes the AfDB.

“Smallholder farmers account for 95% of total agricultural output, while 400 commercial farms in Mozambique produce the remaining 5%,.” the bank says, so it is an “urgent imperative” to increase investment “to transform rain-fed agriculture into a sustainable and commercially viable activity”.

In access to basic water and sanitation services, “there is a significant gap in access between urban and rural areas, as well as across different regions”.

In access to work, “formal employment is mainly available in the government and urban small and medium-sized enterprises”. An estimated 500,000 entries join “a saturated” labour market each year.

Among the 53 countries assessed, Mozambique is ranked 33rd. Mauritius has 59.96 points, followed by Egypt (58.99) and South Africa (58.89).

The AfDB presented the PSDI as “an innovative resource that offers valuable information to help drive positive changes in the delivery of essential public services”.

“The urgency of addressing public service delivery in Africa is highlighted by the slow pace of improvement in the quality of life of Africans. However, the quality of services is rarely assessed,” and it is this “gap” that the new index aims to fill, the institution explained.

Prepared by the African Development Institute – the AfDB group’s focal point for supporting institutional capacity development in its regional member countries – in partnership with stakeholders, the report aims to serve as “a starting point for discussions on how to improve transparency and accountability in public service delivery. It will be reviewed and reformulated in subsequent biennial reports”.

Source: Lusa