Addis Ababa is struggling to deliver basic public services not because of a lack of funds, but because of an over‑centralized system and a demoralized workforce, a new study by the Policy Studies Institute (PSI) warns.
The report, titled “Responsiveness of Public Institutions in Ethiopia: Practices, Challenges, and Policy Options,” paints a stark picture of a capital city where frontline workers have little or no power to make decisions, are underpaid, and are increasingly absent from their posts — all of which has left residents facing long delays and frustration when trying to access government services.
The study identifies excessive centralization of power as the main bottleneck behind the city’s service breakdown. While the city is growing fast and handling millions of citizen requests each year, decision‑making authority remains tightly concentrated at the top, leaving frontline workers with almost no autonomy.
Chala Amdissa (Phd), an expert from Addis Ababa University involved in the research, described the city administration as being in a “major structural contradiction.” “Frontline workers who interact with the public every day have no decision‑making power,” he said. “They are treated only as informants, not as problem‑solvers.”
According to the study, this has created a “responsiveness gap”: institutions manage to provide information, but they fail to resolve citizens’ problems quickly. Quantitative data from the research shows that while government offices scored a modest 3.37 (out of 5) on providing information, they scored the lowest, 3.02, on solving problems immediately.
“Employees often have to wait for instructions from senior leaders who are not on duty, who are busy in other meetings, or who are simply absent from their offices,” Dr. Chala explained. “This is the main reason citizens do not get timely responses.”
The problem is not limited to the city’s bureaucracy; it is also a leadership culture issue. The report notes that many senior officials are frequently absent from their offices, attending political meetings or other events instead of managing their institutions.
This pattern has discouraged ordinary employees, who feel they lack the tools and authority to do their work effectively. “Leaders often prioritize political survival over institutional work,” the study observes, weakening the memory and continuity of institutions, especially with frequent leadership changes.
Daniel Amente, a PSI researcher, stressed that genuine responsiveness means more than just technical competence. “It means empathy and sensitivity to the public’s needs,” he said. “It means providing services at the right time, in the right place, and at an affordable cost.” But the study concludes that Ethiopia’s path toward such a responsive government is still long and unfinished.
Another major driver of the crisis is low wages. The study found that low salaries are pushing workers to quit their jobs or show poor attendance, and are creating fertile ground for corruption and rent‑seeking behavior.
“It is impossible to expect an employee who provides efficient and ethical service while struggling to pay rent in the city he serves,” the report notes.
Factors like the lack of decent medical equipment and severe shortages of basic medicines in health facilities have further eroded employee morale. In a city with a large budget, the research shows that “soft infrastructure” — the civil service system, staff capacity, and working conditions — has been systematically neglected.
In many offices, staff still rely on outdated paper files, and poor internet access is undermining the city’s efforts to roll out digital e‑services, the study adds.
The research team emphasized that the public service challenges in Addis Ababa differ from those in regional states like Gambella or the Somali region, where the main constraints may be infrastructure and access. In the capital, the problem is more about governance culture, administrative culture, and the dismantling of frontline decision‑making capacity.
In a city where diverse communities live and demand for services is extremely high, such cultural and structural barriers are making it difficult for citizens, especially the poor and marginalized, to access equitable services.
To address these problems sustainably, the policy study outlines a clear path forward. The first step is to build a truly competency‑based civil service, where recruitment and promotion are based solely on knowledge, skills, and experience, not on political loyalty or other external ties.
At the same time, the study calls for a serious reduction in the excessive centralization of power by delegating more decision‑making authority to lower levels of the administration and giving frontline workers real capacity to solve citizens’ problems where they occur, instead of forcing them to wait endlessly for higher‑level approval.
To boost morale and reduce turnover, the report argues that the city must undertake a serious wage and benefits reform that reflects the actual cost of living and treats equity and fairness as central principles. This is seen as a critical step to increase motivation and enable employees to serve faithfully and to their full potential.
The study also insists that civil service institutions must be shielded from political interference and frequent leadership changes, since institutional memory and long‑term continuity are essential for stable and effective service delivery.
The research group stresses that any reform will be incomplete without a strong, accessible, and reliable complaint system where citizens’ grievances are properly heard, tracked, and resolved in a timely manner, so that accountability can be restored and public trust rebuilt.
Unless these structural issues are addressed, the study warns, more spending on roads and big infrastructure will not fix the everyday crisis at service delivery points — from health centers and schools to city halls and utilities.
