
Radar | Jan 19,2024
Jul 3 , 2021
By Christian Tesfaye
A few things characterise government services. They are inefficient and liable to errors, non-standardised, prone to corruption and often burdened by poor organisation. The popular conception of a lower government office that deals with the public daily is one of drabness, creaking floors and dusty walls. The most feared room is the documents’ room, where an unfortunate government employee has to sift through poorly-kept and disorganised papers.
Things seem to be changing, and mainly as a result of a drive to digitise government services. Some services have seen what is nothing less than a revolution. Take getting a driver’s license renewed.
Once one gets the required medical certificate, they have to visit their local district headquarters. Inside, there is usually a queue, but not people standing in lines as we are used to them. There is enough space to sit everyone on every other chair. Drivers are required to take a number, which also comes with a piece of paper to write their details on as they wait.
When ones number comes up on the display board, drivers go to an assigned booth to deal with a government employee. The fee is paid right there, and the driver’s license is printed on the spot. That is it – the whole process. In older days, and many places right now as well, the driver would have to wait for at least a month and make do with a temporary license in the meanwhile.
The process to get a passport renewed is even more advanced. Some months ago, when I did this, I only had to apply online and pay the fee at a Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) near me using the special number I was given on the website. I was then scheduled a date to go and pick up the passport at the post office, which I did.
Such improvements to government systems are mainly a result of the digitisation of services. It has made processes easier. Keeping data in servers means that it takes a second to fetch the details of anyone. Digital signatures allow far easier verification than getting every document and paper signed, stamped and copied at every office the bureaucratic managers can think of. The driver’s license I have just gotten renewed has a QR barcode to identify the license owner even if the details on the front are faded.
Ethiopia has several challenges in the economic sphere, including a bureaucracy that displays “neo-patrimonial" modes of governance as opposed to a system based on merit and employees that “make decisions based on codified rules, in an impartial manner.” There has been much in the way of literature to demonstrate the crucial role played by efficient bureaucratic systems in the economic development of states, which has been highlighted in countries such as South Korea and China.
“Highly selective meritocratic recruitment and long-term career rewards create commitment and a sense of corporate coherence,” wrote Peter Evans in Embedded Autonomy: States and Industrial Transformation. “Corporate coherence gives these apparatuses a certain kind of “autonomy.’”
This is known as a Weberian bureaucracy – one that is organised separately from society to implement the overriding policies of the government. Current economic literature sees the bureaucracy in a slightly different light, and I might add that its role in the economy is closely intertwined with its ability to adapt to new technological systems. This is also what the government services digitisation is attempting to do. There are still ways to go, but the fruits are already visible for people that happen to be renewing their driver’s licenses and passports.
PUBLISHED ON
Jul 03,2021 [ VOL
22 , NO
1105]
Radar | Jan 19,2024
Sunday with Eden | Sep 27,2020
Fortune News | Feb 13,2021
Viewpoints | Feb 16,2019
Fortune News | Dec 12,2020
Fortune News | Jan 23,2021
Radar | Aug 16,2020
Fortune News | Feb 29,2020
Fortune News | May 16,2020
Radar |
My Opinion | 127066 Views | Aug 14,2021
My Opinion | 123206 Views | Aug 21,2021
My Opinion | 121363 Views | Sep 10,2021
My Opinion | 119263 Views | Aug 07,2021
Dec 22 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW
Charged with transforming colossal state-owned enterprises into modern and competitiv...
Aug 18 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Although predictable Yonas Zerihun's job in the ride-hailing service is not immune to...
Jul 28 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW
Unhabitual, perhaps too many, Samuel Gebreyohannes, 38, used to occasionally enjoy a couple of beers at breakfast. However, he recently swit...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Investors who rely on tractors, trucks, and field vehicles for commuting, transporting commodities, and f...
Apr 6 , 2025
Last week, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group...
Mar 30 , 2025
When the private satellite channel, Ethiopian Broadcasting Service (EBS), aired an em...
Mar 23 , 2025
Getachew Redda, head of the Tigray Interim Regional Administration (TIRA), at least u...
Mar 16 , 2025
Ask anyone about the population of Addis Abeba, and a straightforward answer proves e...
Apr 6 , 2025 . By RUTH BERHANU
Federal officials and private sector leaders are finalising the first consolidated tr...
Apr 6 , 2025 . By AKSAH ITALO
Key Takeaways: CBE accomplished a 344.4pc increase in deposits within eight mo...
Apr 6 , 2025 . By BEZAWIT HULUAGER
Key Takeaways Ethiopian insurers will transition to IFRS 17 by 2027, meeting i...
Apr 6 , 2025 . By AKSAH ITALO
Key Takeaways: Wheat prices have surged by 50pc in two months, impacting the f...