(AfDB ) - The African Development Bank, together with partners, including the Tony Blair Institute and International Labor Organization has held the first of a series of regional technical consultation meetings, on the Public Service Delivery Index (PSDI).

The Index measures public service performance in African countries through the lens of the Bank's High 5s priorities.

The overall goal of the PSDI is to contribute to the improvement of the quality and coverage of public services delivered to African citizens by monitoring progress over time and transparently making that information publicly and widely available.

The meeting was held in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire on Monday 30 October.

The goal of these regional technical consultation meetings is to obtain feedback and relevant information required to affirm the list of selected measurements (indicators) for the PSDI. They will also serve as feedback sessions for receiving comments on the methodology, framework, and structure of the Index.

African Development Bank Chief Economist and Vice President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management Professor Kevin Urama, in his opening remarks said that the delivery of public services is an essential dimension of governance. He emphasized that improvement in public services has the ability to raise the living standards of citizens and ultimately accelerate the achievement of development goals such as the Bank Group’s Ten-Year Strategy, the High 5s and Africa’s Agenda 2063.

Urama thanked the partner institutions for making time to contribute to the work, mentioning that it is critical that the framework of the PSDI and the process is as transparent as possible to ensure the PSDI is as transparent as possible.  

The partners expressed their interest and gratitude for collaborating with the Bank and in the ongoing PSDI regional technical consultations. 

In setting the scene for the meeting, the Director of the African Development Institute, Dr Eric Ogunleye, outlined the objectives of the consultations and the expected outcomes and emphasized the huge and exciting task and responsibility the participants have to provide feedback that will help the African Development Bank reach the finish line, in its efforts to support Regional Member Countries to enhance transparency and accountability in public service delivery.

Discussions were guided by the PSDI technical advisory committee members.

The PSDI framework was presented, including the background of the survey and the tool, which achieved successful completion in July 2023 by covering 90% of African countries (49 countries).

The process is continuing via regional technical consultative meetings across other regions - Kenya on 2 November 2023; South Africa, on 7 November 2023, Cameroon, on 10 November 2023, Nigeria, on 13 November 2023, and in Tunisia on 21 November 2023.