• Guinea signs deal with Azerbaijan for digital one-stop portal

• Platform aims to centralize services, cut delays, improve access

• Reform supports broader push to digitize fragmented public systems

Guinea’s Minister of Civil Service and Administrative Modernization, Faya François Bourouno, on Monday signed an agreement with Azerbaijan to establish a one-stop shop for public services, aimed at simplifying and digitizing administrative procedures. 

The portal will centralize access to administrative services, allowing users to complete multiple procedures through a single interface. Modeled on Azerbaijan’s ASAN Service platform, known for its efficiency, it is expected to reduce processing times, ease administrative burdens and improve service delivery.

The initiative comes as Guinea accelerates the digitization of its public services. In recent years, the country has launched several reforms, including in public financial management, civil registry modernization and the digitization of certain tax services. However, these systems often operate separately, limiting their overall effectiveness.

The one-stop shop is intended to address this fragmentation by progressively integrating services into a single platform. This approach reflects broader trends in digital governance, where interoperability is a key performance factor.

Guinea has nonetheless made progress in digital administration. According to the United Nations E-Government Development Index (EGDI), the country scored 0.4 out of 1 in 2024, ranking 160th out of 193 countries, compared with 0.3 and 162nd in 2022. The improvement points to gradual gains in digital capacity, although further efforts are needed to improve integration and access.

Samira Njoya