Africa’s three leading economies, Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt, have recorded massive drops in their ranking on the global Information and Communications Technology (ICT) development with regards to Networked Readiness Index (NRI). The index is managed by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
While Nigeria’s position dropped seven places to 119th, South Africa fell five places and now ranks 75th while Egypt dropped three places and now ranks 94th. Though ranking below South Africa, Kenya’s position appears more impressive as it actually climbed six places to 86th position in the global record.
NRI is a crucial indicator of a country’s ability to implement and take full advantage of ICTs in businesses, economic development and global competitiveness. 2015 edition of the Global Information Technology Report (GITR) is released at a time when many economies around the world are struggling to ensure that economic growth is equitable and provides benefits for their entire populations.
In the report, Managing Director of WEF, Espen Barth Eide, said ‘’advanced economies have not yet reached their full potential and they struggle with persistently high unemployment, rising inequalities, and fiscal challenges. Emerging markets and developing economies are facing stronger headwinds than before and need to adjust their development models to ensure economic growth and a more broad-based distribution of gains’’.
As a general-purpose technology, Eide explained that the impact of ICTs extends well beyond productivity gains and acts as a vector of social development and transformation by improving access to basic services, enhancing connectivity, and creating employment opportunities.
Published by the WEF in partnership with Cornell University and INSEAD since 2001, GITR has measured the drivers of the ICT revolution using the NIR. For each of the 143 economies covered GITR series allows areas of priority to be identified to more fully leverage ICTs for development.
