The African Public Service Delivery Index (PSDI) is a flagship initiative of the African Development Bank, designed to enhance transparency and accountability in public service delivery across Africa. Despite the central role that public services play in driving social and economic progress, most African countries lack standardized, comprehensive indicators to assess the quality and effectiveness of these services. The PSDI fills this critical gap by offering a robust, data-driven framework that draws from household surveys, expert consultations, and existing statistical sources to create a composite index covering multiple sectors.

This index not only helps governments prioritize investments in areas with the highest developmental impact but also promotes evidence-based policymaking. By combining performance, perception, and outcome indicators, the PSDI enables benchmarking and comparison across countries and regions, encouraging continuous improvement in service delivery. Strategic pillars of the PSDI include wide stakeholder engagement, use of both primary and secondary data, and a focus on results-based management to ensure accountability and cost-effectiveness.

As part of its incentive mechanisms, the PSDI also features the Public Service Delivery Prize Awards—recognizing outstanding efforts at continental, regional, and national levels. These awards aim to motivate public officials and institutions to strive for excellence in delivering impactful services to citizens, thus accelerating progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.