South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Tunisia have become the top four African countries in the 2022 digital government ranking in Africa, a new UN Survey says.
African countries have recently stepped up their pursuit of digital government strategies partly to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the survey disclosed over the weekend.
Yet, many have fallen short in providing adequate online services, according to the UN’s Biennial Survey entitled The Future of Digital Government.
South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Tunisia are the top-performing countries in the 2022 digital government in Africa.
These countries have scored the highest in the scope and quality of online services, the status of telecom infrastructure, and existing human capacity, the survey says.
Runners-up are Morocco, Egypt, Ghana, Cape Verde, Algeria, Kenya, Gabon, Botswana, Rwanda, Côte d’Ivoire, Namibia, and Zambia.
This is for the first time that Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, and Zambia have moved to the high ‘E-Government Development Index’ or EGDI group.
While the data shows general increases in online services for vulnerable groups, the survey says evidence of pervasive digital divides is stark.
Globally, all of the countries with the lowest EGDI rankings are those in special and developing situations.
Africa is home to 39 of the 91 countries in special situations, the survey shows.
The 2022 survey explored a range of human-centered issues related to access, affordability, general abilities, and more.
Digitalization trends in Africa are positive overall.
Fixed (wired) broadband subscriptions have jumped 48 percent since 2020, rising from 1.80 to 2.67 per 100 inhabitants.
Nevertheless, the values for these indicators remain below the corresponding global averages, and the cost of mobile broadband subscriptions as a percentage of gross national income per capita remains significantly higher in Africa than in other parts of the world, contributing to the digital divide.
MG/as/APA