Government advisory

MSC’s Government Advisory team partners with governments to drive transformative, citizen-centric reforms that improve governance, transparency, and service delivery. With decades of experience across Asia and Africa, we bring expertise in government-to-person (G2P) programs, social protection, and digital governance to help governments respond effectively to evolving challenges.

Our work spans diverse sectors, which include agriculture, energy, digital governance, public finance, WASH, climate resilience, and women and child development. We design solutions that enhance access, equity, and efficiency for people from low-income groups, women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities(PwDs).

Government advisory brochure

We focus on three core themes

Smart governance

  • We improve the efficiency of government systems, enhance accountability and observability, and reduce the administrative burden on officials. Our work in public finance management (PFM) focuses inward on strengthening core systems across budgeting, expenditure management, and revenue mobilization.

Public policy

  • We strengthen the entire policy and program lifecycle, from policy analysis and research to program design, implementation, and evaluation. Our work spans regulatory reforms, sectoral strategies, institutional capacity building, and improvements to delivery systems.

Social protection

  • We make governance more effective by advancing policies that strengthen fairness and inclusion across social systems.
  • We also design, improve, and implement these policies to strengthen social outcomes. Our work focuses outward on improving how citizens engage with the government.

We deliver services through six integrated lines: Research and analysis,  program design, digital transformation, pilot and implementation support, capacity building, and results evaluation and assessment. This comprehensive approach ensures that policies translate into impactful, scalable programs.

MSC combines policy expertise with ground-level implementation and technology knowledge, which enables governments to achieve inclusive growth. We bridge strategy and practice to help public institutions build resilience, unleash innovation, and deliver sustainable benefits for all citizens.

This expertise extends beyond individual countries through the Learning Across Borders (LAB) initiative. LAB creates a platform for countries in the Global South to exchange proven solutions and accelerate reforms across digital governance, social protection, agriculture, health, and inclusive growth. Through LAB, we facilitate multi-modal knowledge exchange, immersive exposure visits, and tailored technical support through the “India for the World” model. 

What we do

Smart governance

Despite global advances, many governments, regardless of their economic status, continue to struggle with delivering high-quality public services and achieving program outcomes across sectors.

Smart-Governance-1

Social protection

Across the globe, 2 billion people in low- and middle-income countries remain uncovered or inadequately covered by social protection.

Header-min

Signature projects

Publication banner for MSC
MSC’s support for DPI-enabled social assistance delivery through Perlinsos to reform Indonesia’s social protection system
Publication banner for MSC
Monitoring and evaluation of the DPI-enabled social assistance delivery (Perlinsos pilot) in Indonesia
Strengthening-public-financial-management-through-Digital-Infrastructure-in-Nigeria-min
Strengthening public financial management through Digital Infrastructure in Nigeria
Reforming-payment-processes-for-food-grain-procurement-India-min
Reforming payment processes for food grain procurement, India
Revolutionizing-rural-connectivity_-MSCs-smart-solutions-for-PMGSY_MSC
Revolutionizing rural connectivity: MSC’s smart solutions for PMGSY
Evaluating-and-enhancing-Indias-social-protection-and-G2P-ecosystem-India_2
Evaluating and enhancing India’s social protection and G2P ecosystem, India
Strengthening-global-G2P-and-social-protection-delivery-systems
Strengthening global G2P and social protection delivery systems
Transforming-food-subsidies-in-Indonesia-min
Transforming food subsidies in Indonesia

Meet our people

Mitul Thapliyal

Managing Partner
Akhand 1

Akhand Jyoti Tiwari

Senior Partner
Ritesh

Ritesh Rautela

Associate Partner

Robert Maganga Mwanyumba

Senior Manager
image

Michelle Lopez Alvarez

Senior Manager
Vikram

Vikram Pratap Sharma

Senior Manager
Author

Fakhridho Susrahadiansyah

Senior Manager

FAQs

Government advisory in consulting provides expert technical advice, policy guidance, program design support, and implementation assistance to government ministries, departments, and public agencies. In the development sector, it helps in advising national and subnational governments in low- and moderate-income countries. It covers various areas, such as public financial management, social protection, digital governance, government-to-person (G2P) programs and payment systems, and inclusive service delivery. MSC’s government advisory practice specializes in development-context government reform across Asia and Africa.

A government advisory practice is a specialized team that supports public sector clients, such as governments, regulators, and public institutions, rather than private-sector companies. MSC’s government advisory practice provides end-to-end support across policy research, program design, digital transformation, monitoring and evaluation, capacity building, and implementation support. It supports governments across Asia and Africa. The practice has expertise in G2P programs and payments, social protection, smart governance, and public finance management across sectors, such as agriculture, health and nutrition, energy, and financial services.

MSC’s government advisory practice provides six integrated service lines:

  • Policy research and analysis: Evidence generation, political economy assessment, and policy brief development;
  • Program design: G2P, social protection, agriculture, and financial inclusion program architecture;
  • Monitoring and evaluation: Impact assessment, real-time monitoring dashboards, management information system (MIS) development;
  • Piloting and implementation support: Field-level rollout, troubleshooting, and scale-up support;
  • Digital transformation: Digital public infrastructure (DPI) integration, G2P payment system design, and e-governance deployment;
  • Capacity building: Training for government officials, ministry staff, and implementing agencies.

The best policy advisory services for government agencies are those that combine policy design expertise with implementation capacity and local market knowledge. In emerging markets and development programs, MSC specializes in social protection policy, financial inclusion, G2P programs, and digital governance. These areas require deep technical knowledge and on-the-ground experience. MSC has advised governments in more than 70 countries, with strong experience across India, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Government advisory focuses on supporting public sector clients, such as ministries, departments, regulatory agencies, and public institutions. It helps these organizations design and deliver better public services and policies. However, management consulting serves both public and private-sector clients. It typically focuses on operational efficiency, commercial strategy, and organizational restructuring. Our Government advisory practice is development-focused and primarily supports governments in low- and moderate-income countries to deliver inclusive and citizen-centric public service reform.

Yes. MSC provides comprehensive advisory services for digital governance, including DPI design, e-governance strategy, digital payment systems integration for government programs, and government data management frameworks. Our digital governance work draws on experience with India’s Aadhaar-enabled Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system, Kenya’s Inua Jamii social protection platform, Nigeria’s National Social Safety Nets Project (NASSP), and Indonesia’s Bantuan Pangan Non-Tunai (BPNT) program. We advise on technology architecture and the regulatory and institutional frameworks that support effective digital governance.

MSC supports G2P payment program design throughout the program lifecycle. We begin with a situational analysis and assess existing payment infrastructure, beneficiary identification systems, and institutional capacity. We then design the payment architecture that integrates digital identity, such as Aadhaar in India or national ID systems in Africa, payment rails, and beneficiary management databases. We also provide implementation support during rollout, build government capacity to manage programs independently, and conduct rigorous evaluations. MSC has provided technical assistance to G2P programs serving more than 875 million beneficiaries.

It refers to specialized strategic, operational, and technical services that help public-sector entities design policies and programs, optimize public spending, and implement large-scale reforms.