Africa

Africa

Code
AFR
Region type
Official

Good governance: Streamlining and securing the expenditure process

The General Mutual Fund for Civil Service Employees (Mutuelle générale du personnel des administrations publiques – MGPAP) is keen to secure the sustainability of the financial system and to ensure that it is managed in a modern and efficient way, and has therefore embarked on an ambitious project to reform the expenditure process with the aim of guaranteeing maximum transparency, rationality and good governance.

Introduction of a third-party reimbursement system

In recent years, the National Sickness Insurance Fund (Caisse nationale d’assurance maladie – CNAM) has been working to design and implement new procedures with the aim of continuously improving its benefits in order to better meet the expectations of insured persons by significantly reducing, for instance, the reimbursement period for ambulatory care expenses – a key quality objective for the CNAM.

In order to achieve this objective, the CNAM has set up a system which operates mainly at the following four levels:

Pooling of resources of the social security organizations

Mutualising resources of social security institutions is a logical consequence of a government programme aimed at simplifying procedures with a view to improving public service. The constant increase in users’ expectations has lent real impetus to the reform process. Reform at the same time has involved another major challenge: efficiency and maintaining the financial balance of the system.

Information and awareness-raising campaign for interns and apprentices on vocational training for the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases

Since 2016 the National Social Insurance Fund for Employees (Caisse nationale des assurances sociales des travailleurs salaries – CNAS) has conducted a national programme financed by its prevention fund. The aim of this information and awareness-raising programme for interns and apprentices on vocational training for the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases is to be proactive with future workers by providing them with knowledge and good practices in the field of occupational health and safety.

Integrated Equipment Management System – SIGAP

Given the constraints and difficulties encountered by applicants of disability aids, the National Social Insurance Fund for Employees (Caisse nationale des assurances sociales des travailleurs salariés – CNAS) is concerned to facilitate and streamline procedures and to modernize its services, and as such developed an Integrated Equipment Management System (SIGAP) with the following objectives:

Extension of coverage to the informal sector

The National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) was created by an Act of Parliament “The NPS Act” No. 40 of 1996 to provide social security cover to all eligible employees in Zambia in case of retirement, invalidity or death. Since commencement of operations in February 2000, NAPSA has largely focused on the formal sector. However, this sector constitutes only 16 percent (950,000 people) of the total employed population of 5.8 million people (Zambia Labour Force Survey Report, 2014). The remaining 84 percent is made up of employees from the informal sector. 

Nationwide extension of the use of the “CHIFA” electronic card for insured persons and online updating

The nationwide extension of the use of the “CHIFA” electronic card for insured persons and its online updating is the most recent step in the modernization and improvement of the general conditions for the provision of service to insured persons and their dependants.

One-stop service centre

The one-stop service centre project is in line with the initiative of Algerian authorities to rethink basic public services from the citizen’s point of view. Instead of functioning in an isolated fashion, our services need to be grouped into units that make benefits accessible under optimal conditions, preferably via a common interface: the “one-stop service centre”.

Agreement with opticians

As part of the extension of the third-party payment system, a new system was launched in 2012 and is gradually being introduced nationwide to enable a category of insured persons with medical and income-related conditions to benefit from the coverage of the cost of eyeglasses without advance payments. 

Updating social benefits

The most common complaint made by those insured by the National Social Insurance Fund (Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance Sociale – CNaPS) relates to the amount of social benefits granted: the amount of several benefits has been set as a standard amount such that any changes require the legal texts to be amended. Moreover, the conditions for obtaining old age insurance benefits no longer reflect today’s context, given the state of the labour market following the successive crises experienced by the country.