Top 10 African Countries Adopting ICT Development

According to World Bank statistics, every 10% increase in broadband penetration will lead to 2 to 3 percent increase in employment rate and 1.4 percent increase in GDP growth. Different ICT technologies had been deployed to create and make this into a video to be available to watch on the internet; in the process, jobs and business transactions were made. This is just a tiny faction of the ICT industry.

Interesting that 69 percent of Africans do not yet have access to the internet. If you could watch this video, you are among the privileged 31 percent. So which are the top countries in Africa creating the enabling environment to adopt information and communication technology for development?

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In its Global Competitiveness Report 2018, World Economic Forum ranked countries (on a score of 0 to 100) according to their adoption of ICT, using indicators such as Mobile phone and broadband subscriptions, fixed-broadband and fiber internet subscriptions and percentage of internet users.

Today, we bring you the top 10 countries in Africa that are making developmental progress through ICT adoption.

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Let’s begin the countdown..

10. Egypt

According to the Global Competitiveness Report, Egypt ranks 100^th position for ICT adoption in the world and 10^th in Africa with 40.6 points. 41.2 percent of the population has access to internet.

9. Botswana

Botswana ranks 98^th position for ICT adoption in the world, ahead of Paraguay and 9^th in Africa with 42 points. Internet penetration is at 39.4 percent.

8. Morocco

Morocco ranks 93^th position for ICT adoption in the world, ahead of Peru and Vietnam and 8^th in Africa with 44.2 points. Internet penetration is at 58.5 percent of the population.

7. Tunisia

Tunisia ranks 90^th position for ICT adoption in the world, ahead of Cambodia and Jamaica and 7^th in Africa with 45.1 points. 49.6 percent of the population has internet access.

6. Ghana

Ghana ties with Ecuador to ranks 88^th position for ICT adoption in the world and 6^th in Africa with 45.7 points. Internet penetration is surprisingly at a low of 34.7 percent. It is worth noting that internet penetration is just one of the several indicators for ranking.

5. South Africa

South Africa ranks 85^th position for ICT adoption in the world, behind Columbia and 5^th in Africa with 46.1 points. Internet penetration is at 54 percent.

4. Algeria

Algeria ranks 83^rd position for ICT adoption in the world and 4^th in Africa with 47.2 points. Algerians are increasingly tech-savvy and interested in the transfer of know-how within the ICT sector. Government ministries are also interested in process modernization and the digitization of record-keeping. About 42.9 percent of the population has access to the internet.

And for the top 3 countries in Africa for ICT development…

3. Cape Verde

Cape Verde ranks 79^th position for ICT adoption in the world, behind Iran and 3^rd in Africa with 48.1 points. Also, Cape Verde has made significant strides in the implementation of ICTs in education. 50.3 percent of the population has access to the internet.

2. Seychelles

Seychelles ranks 63^rd position for ICT adoption in the world, ahead of Thailand, Argentina, Brazil, Philippines and Poland, and is the 2^nd in Africa with 56.6 points. Also, Seychelles has always been among the leaders in the region with regard to ICT deployment. A major progress was made with the introduction of the international submarine cable system in 2012, which has translated in better provision in the quality and performance of Internet services.  Internet penetration is at 56.5 percent of the population.

And the number one country in Africa for development in ICT goes to…

1. Mauritius

Mauritius ranks 47^th position for ICT adoption in the world, ahead of such countries as Indonesia, Hungary, Italy and so on, and the first in Africa with 62.1 points. This makes it the only African country in the top 50 countries for ICT adoption globally. The ICT industry is the third pillar of the Mauritian Economy, contributing up to 7 percent to the GDP of the Island. The World Economic Forum in 2015 identified Mauritius as the third best country when it comes to telecom and internet connectivity costs in its Global Information Technology Report. There is 52.2 percent internet penetration in the country.

Surprisingly, countries like Nigeria and Kenya did not make the top 10 list. Nigeria ranks 25^th in Africa and 123^rd in the world with 26.2 points; while Kenya’s position is at 16^th in Africa and 113^th in the world with 32.6 points.

Information and communication technologies (ICT) have the potential to transform businesses and government in Africa, and drive entrepreneurship, innovation and economic growth. The question is, are we doing enough to leverage ICT in Africa? What do you think? If you are yet to subscribe to this channel, this is likely a good time to subscribe. Until next time, YOUR SUCCESS MATTERS!