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The United Nations recently issued the E-government survey 2022, the 12th edition of the evaluation carried out by the UN about the prospects of digital government in the 193 member states.
The E-Government Development Index (EGDI), which assesses e-government development at the national level, is a composite index based on the weighted average of three normalised indices, namely the Telecommunications Infrastructure Index, the Human Capital Index, and the Online Service Index (OSI).
According to the 2022 survey, South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Tunisia, lead the 2022 digital government rankings in Africa, scoring the highest when it comes to the scope and quality of online services, the status of telecommunication infrastructure and existing human capacity. Runners-up are Morocco, Egypt, Ghana, Cabo Verde, Algeria, Kenya, Gabon, Botswana, Rwanda, Cote d’Ivoire, Namibia and Zambia.
Improvements
Among the 16 countries in the high EGDI group in Africa, only South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Tunisia are among the top 100 in terms of overall EGDI ranking, with values above 0.6102.
South Africa became the regional front-runner in e-government development, with an EGDI value of 0.7357 and a place in the highest (HV) rating class.
Mauritius has the highest TII value in Africa (0.7588) and a very high HCI value (0.7733), suggesting that the country is well positioned to strengthen its overall e-government development if it can improve the provision of its online services.
Although the EGDI values for Rwanda, Côte d’Ivoire and Zambia remain below the global average of 0.6102, these three countries moved from the middle to the high EGDI group for the first time in 2022.
Interestingly, Rwanda is the only country in Africa that has a very high OSI value (0.7935), which indicates that Rwanda is directing significant investment towards online services development, allowing it to compete with the world’s leading countries in this area.
The report noted that African countries have significantly improved their telecommunications infrastructure, building a solid foundation for accelerating the transition to digital government. Challenges remain, however, as the cost of mobile broadband subscriptions as a percentage of per capita gross national income remains significantly higher in Africa than in other parts of the world.
Globally, Denmark, Finland and the Republic of Korea lead the 2022 digital government ranking of the 193 United Nations Member States, scoring the highest when it comes to the scope and quality of online services, the status of telecommunication infrastructure and existing human capacity. Runners-up are New Zealand, Sweden, Iceland, Australia, Estonia, the Netherlands, the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Japan and Malta.
