E-government and the quality of public service

By Ngo Tong Chantal Marie

Executive Summary

The e-government project in Cameroon dates back to 2000, and its implementation has faced challenges despite some progress since the project’s launch. In 2025, the government undertook a review of the e-government system to launch a more concrete approach towards digital administration (e-government), ensuring speed, transparency, reliability, and efficiency in the processing of public data and information. The initiatives undertaken since the project’s launch are part of a broader dynamic of reform and transformation of the e-government to better meet citizens’ needs and deliver quality public services. Although ambitious, the project is progressing very slowly: by 2024, only 38 administrative services were online, and in 2025, the State set its target of 50 online services by 2026. But the challenges are significant: the low penetration of ICT in public administrations, poor internet connectivity, digital illiteracy among public employees, malfunctions of online public administration digital platforms… Although applications such as SIGIPES, AIGLES, e-GUCE, and PKI systems represent significant progress, the government still has much to do to optimize its potential in the digital transformation of public administrations.

The 2018-2025 Telecommunications report describes a “digital revolution taking (too) small steps “in Cameroon. This digital revolution is driven by the e-government project launched in 2000. The concept of e-government, or electronic government, defined as “the provision of public services electronically,” is associated with the principles of openness, neutrality, and predictability. The development of e-government integrates three elements: infrastructure, human capital, and online services. While Cameroon has made considerable progress in human capital development, it has seen very little progress in the other two areas. While the E-Government Development Index improved from 0.2 in 2014 to 0.4 in 2024, the penetration rate of ICT and the Internet in public and semi-public administrations remains low, and the number of online administrative services remains limited: 38 online administrative services in 2024. The government has set a target of 50 online administrative services by 2026. The use of online services is limited to 20% of the population due to digital illiteracy, unequal access to computer equipment, and malfunctions in government digital platforms. More broadly, e-government encompasses all the roles and activities of the administration that rely on and utilize information and communication technologies (ICT). It therefore relies on electronic administration, or e-administration, defined by Olivier Viboud as “the use of information and communication technologies to improve the service provided to users of public services by public administrations.” According to the OECD, it encompasses “the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), and in particular the Internet, as tools aimed at establishing a higher quality administration.” The use of ICT has facilitated the adoption of the System for the Integrated Management of State Personnel and the Payroll (SIGIPES) within the various ministries for the efficient management of civil servants’ careers and salaries. SIGIPES has been progressively replaced since January 1, 2025, by the Application of Logical Management of Workforce and Payroll (AIGLES). As the sole official platform for managing human resources and state payroll, AIGLES facilitates the automatic processing of promotions in rank and grade, thereby reducing the need for civil servants to travel and streamlining career progression. The E-GUCE platform, a single window for foreign trade operations, simplifies and facilitates foreign trade procedures, and since its implementation in 2008, has improved economic activity and secured state revenue. E-government fosters the development of efficient and higher-quality services.

1.Increasingthe efficiency of public service

Digital tools help save a lot of time: the speed of communication sets a faster pace of work. The use of email transcends spatial and temporal boundaries. For example, instructions or work guidelines, application files, and selection responses can all be sent by email. Digital technology is reshaping how public officials manage information and organize their work across various tasks, while maintaining the ability to respond promptly to complaints to ensure smoother workflow.

Digital technology promotes a more effective, rational, efficient, and productive administration, offering high-quality public services through the systematic computerization of administrative work. Technological change is driving a revolution in modes of design, production, and consumption. These major changes are transforming the way services are delivered, new ways of organizing things, and even the very essence of work.

Making administrative services available online saves a significant amount of time and makes these services accessible and free to use. The government thus uses websites to facilitate administrative procedures, as simplifying these procedures is one of the objectives of using ICT. The goal is to enable citizens and businesses to be more self-reliant in meeting their needs by simplifying procedures and reducing the time and costs associated with information exchange and service delivery.

2.Improving the quality of public service

The integration of ICT into public administration helps improve the quality of public services, transparency, and accountability; enhances the cost-effectiveness of service delivery and government operations; and improves citizens’ quality of life. Online registration and other formalities demonstrates the effectiveness of e-government. Pay slips can now be downloaded online. Public servants no longer need to visit a government office to have their pay slip printed. On the Ministry of Finance (MINEFI) website, taxpayers can generate their Unique Identification Number (NIU) and file their taxes online. In secondary and higher education systems, students can access their results online via the web or through WhatsApp and SMS. Furthermore, seamless communication within institutions through intranets and social media reduces information asymmetries and provides administrative staff with access to all the data needed to process a case. Steve Tametong and Pierre Yvan Belinga Meka have thus noted that digitization contributes strongly to improving the performance of public administrations.

The goal of e-government is to eventually make all public services available online (tax returns, requests for civil status documents, payment of various fees, issuance of receipts and other administrative documents, etc.) for citizens and businesses.

3.Conclusions and recommendations

E-government raises issues of effectiveness and quality for public services, as well as efficiency, in that it enables economies of scale for both users and the government. Recognizing these challenges, the Cameroonian government has committed to the digital transformation of public administration as part of the implementation of the E-government project to improve the quality of public services. However, despite the investments made to implement this project, progress has been slow given Cameroon’s potential. To promote its policy and advance its E-Government project, Cameroon launched the Project for Accelerating Digital Transformation in Cameroon (PATNUC) in July 2025, led by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MINPOSTEL).

The difficulties faced by public authorities in implementing e-government include: most data is hosted abroad, which exposes the country to cyberattacks; and the lack of a single model for public service platforms. To solve the problem of platform interconnection, Cameroon launched the National Digital Payment Switch Infrastructure (NPSI) in 2022, and other platforms are under development to solve platform interoperability problems.

To address the challenges and effectively manage the issues surrounding the digital transformation of public administrations, we recommend that government officials:

— build the capacity of public servants in e-government;

— update the data on government websites. Indeed, many government agencies do not update the information on their platforms;

— ensure that the platforms function effectively. Some websites are difficult to access, and the online services offered are very often unusable. For example, the annual income tax return on the MINEFI platform dedicated to this purpose is difficult to access, and users are almost always forced to visit a tax office to file their return;

— secure investments made in infrastructures;

— Involve the diaspora. According to Pierre Ndjop Pom, Cameroon’s strategy overlooks the expertise of the diaspora, even though it is “urgent to involve the diaspora in the national digital strategy.” »;

— Incorporate user feedback mechanisms regarding service quality and satisfaction levels. The idea here is to drive the process of digitizing government services while taking into account the real needs and legitimate expectations of citizens.

Despite the shortcomings, it should be noted that the move to online administrative services generates productivity gains achieved through reduced administrative burdens for users.