From electricity to banking, various services promise speed with new online platforms. But reality shows that the systems fail and end up forcing users to spend several hours in queues.
We are in the Intaka neighbourhood, in the municipality of Matola, on the outskirts of the capital, Maputo. Sérgio Tembe has moved into a new house and needs to request a connection to the electricity grid from the public company Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM). He tried to register on the portal created for this purpose, but it works very slowly. After several attempts, the system stopped processing his request, forcing him to go in person to an EDM counter. He had to wait in a long queue. He only got electricity after two weeks.
Amélia Nhantumbo, who owns a grocery store, complains about the bureaucracy at banks. ‘Opening an account online? Yes, but then we have to go to a branch to activate it. It should be completely digital,’ she says.
José Artur, also a shopkeeper, has other stories of discontent. ‘Sometimes I go to the bank to pay taxes and am told that the system is down. They make me come back another day, wasting time and money.’
The Tax Authority has also created online platforms, but citizens complain. ‘I filed my return on the portal, and even so, they asked me to bring physical copies. It seems that the system does not communicate internally,’ reported Ricardo Mondlane, an accountant.
Businessman Aly Gulamo
Electro Gulamo, a company based in Lichinga, the capital of Niassa province, specialising in civil construction, installation and maintenance of electrical equipment, frequently uses the Mozambique Social Security Information System (SISSMO), created in 2011.
Although it is easy to use and avoids a lot of travel to deal with day-to-day matters, Aly Issufo Gulamo, the company’s owner, complains of structural problems. There are frequent system failures and delays in the approval of orders placed online. These problems ‘end up hampering the running of the company.’
Delays in the justice system and notaries
Maputo-based lawyer Vânia Cavel is familiar with the difficulties of using notary services and all the bureaucracy surrounding legal proceedings. She gives the example of someone who decides to formalise a small business but encounters problems with the commercial registration portal. This forces applicants to go to the registry offices in person. ‘They face endless queues. Sometimes, only to find out at the end of the wait that a document is missing that was not on the online list’ and they have to return to the queue the next day. “A lot of time is wasted going back and forth to deal with paperwork that could be resolved quickly” on the Internet, automatically, as is already the case in other parts of the world.
Another example concerns land dispute cases. Vânia Cavel is assisting a widow who has been fighting for more than two years to gain ownership of land left by her husband. The case should be simple, but it is dragging on in the courts due to the difficulty in finding the file. Every time she goes to court, she receives different information, which shows how the computerisation of the justice system is still a mirage.
Lawyer Vânia Cavel
Positive signs of change
Not everything is going badly with the digital transition in Mozambique. For José Matavel, a university student, the possibility of booking an appointment online to obtain an identity card has been a major improvement: ‘Before, you had to get up early and face long queues. Now, I make an appointment and am seen at the appointed time.’ However, ‘if there is any discrepancy in the documents, we still have to sort everything out in person.’
Júlia Cossa renewed her driving licence and agrees: ‘The process is faster, but the systems crash frequently. If we have a problem on the day of the appointment, we have to go back
several times.’
Mobility and easy payments
Alongside poorly functioning public services, there are digital services that everyone relies on every day. Mobile wallets are one example. M-Pesa, e-Mola and Mkesh have changed access to money, allowing transfers and payments without the need for banks. ‘I pay bills, send money to my family and even buy phone credit through M-Pesa. It has simplified life for many people,’ says Sara Gove, a housewife.
The Tax Authority has also tried to simplify processes with online platforms for tax returns and payments, but citizens still face difficulties.
Another example of efficiency is the Yango mobility app, which allows users to order a car via their mobile phone. ‘Transport is chaotic in Maputo, but with Yango I can get to work without wasting time,’ says Edson Machava, an engineering student.
Edson shows another service he finds very useful: weather alerts. “We are warned about extreme weather conditions via text message, which gives families greater security,” he said.
The examples presented show that, despite advances in the digitisation of services in Mozambique, there is still a long way to go to ensure the efficiency, accessibility and reliability of systems. While some platforms improve citizens’ lives and reduce bureaucracy, many still have flaws that require in-person visits, negating the expected benefits.
For the digital transition to be complete, it is essential to invest in robust technological infrastructure, improve interoperability between different services and ensure that citizens can fully trust digital solutions.
Text: Celso Chambisso • Photography: D.R.
