The State Financial Administration System (e-SISTAFE) will mark its 20th anniversary on 1 December, which will be celebrated against a backdrop of various challenges, including its modernisation, the Agência de Informação de Moçambique reported this Monday, 25 June .
According to the agency, the new challenges arise in response to new demands, the growing and diversified needs of public institutions, as well as uninterrupted access and the desired quality.
The information was shared by the Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, Amílcar Tivane, during the seminar on the 20th anniversary of e-SISTAFE, which this year is being marked under the slogan ‘e-SISTAFE, 20 years modernising public finance management processes to better serve the citizen’.
e-SISTAFE is a computer platform to support the Financial Administration System, which aims to centralise, automate and make the management of public resources more agile, promoting greater responsibility and efficiency in its application.
Amílcar Tivane considered the system ‘part of a comprehensive financial reform effort to improve the management of public finances and increase transparency and efficiency in the administration of state resources.’
Despite the various advances, he pointed to the development of the public procurement component in the State Assets Module and the improvement of the Public Debt Management and Financing Management Modules as challenges.
Other challenges include modernising the technological support infrastructure, integrating new technologies to make the system more efficient, flexible and scalable, such as Artificial Intelligence.
Among the ongoing activities, the deputy minister pointed to the expansion of e-SISTAFE in the Diplomatic and Consular Missions and the adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).
It should be noted that the process of implementing e-SISTAFE has been gradual, summarised in three phases: conception and launch, from 2001 to 2006; expansion and consolidation, from 2006 to 2019; and growth and digitalisation, from 2020 to 2024.
Currently, e-SISTAFE consists of 11 operational modules, with the exception of one, Internal Audit, which is under development.
The aim of the seminar was to present a historical overview of the public procurement, planning and budgeting processes, as well as the evolution of accountability using information made available by e-SISTAFE, over the 20 years since its implementation.
The event was attended by representatives of the Government, the National Association of Municipalities, the Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA), Cooperation Partners, Civil Society, mobile phone companies (Movitel and Vodacom), among others.
