Zambia’s global ICT ranking improves year on year. Ranked 14 in Africa, 110 globally.

Zambia is amoung the top 15 countries in Africa in terms of its ICT. The ranking was made in the World Economic Forum – Global Information Technology report that was released this month.  The report contains the ICT ranking of all countries globally which is referred to as the Network Readiness Index (NRI).

Globally, Zambia ranks 110 out of a total 148 countries, which shows a huge need to improve. With the 2014 ranking, Zambia has moved 5 places up from the 2013 when it ranked 115 globally.

This year, Zambia has performed ahead of countries like Malawi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda amoung others. Here’s a table of the top 15 in Africa:

Africa's Top 15 ICT Ranking - 2014 (#WEF)

2014 Africa Ranking	Country	2014 Global Ranking	2013 Global Ranking	2012 Global Ranking
1	Mauritius	48	55	53
2	Seychelles	66	79	n/a
3	South Africa	70	70	72
4	Rwanda	85	88	82
5	Tunisia	87	n/a	n/a
6	Cape Verde	89	81	81
7	Egypt	91	80	79
8	Kenya	92	92	93
9	Ghana	96	95	97
10	Morocco	99	89	91
11	Botswana	103	96	89
12	Namibia	105	111	105
13	Gambia	107	98	101
14	Zambia	110	115	109
15	Nigeria	112	113	112

According to the report, the NRI ranking is measured by these guiding points:

• The economic and social impacts of ICTs, that is how ICt is transforming the economy and social aspects of the country. What value is ICT adding to the economy, in the creation of jobs, in aiding innovations and making the economy more efficient? Are citizens, through ICT, participating more actively in making governments accountable?
• A business enabling environment which measures market conditions, the regulatory framework and other things that create conditions for innovation and entrepreneurship.
• ICT readiness and usage How narrowed is the digital divide? Is there enough infrastructure for people to access information technology platforms and tools?
• The general ICT ecosystem  at the end of the day, the cogs in an ecosystem work together to create the high rates of ICT use and extensive impact. Improvements in one area affect other areas, and a big lack in one, also affects other areas that are doing well relatively.
• Policy orientation and private-public collaboration. the development and general uptake of ICTs depend on the capacity of a country to provide an institutional framework with reliable and efficient rules and regulations.

The ranking itself is derived from 4 sub-indices; Environment, Readiness (infrastructure, skills, affordability), Usage (business, government and individuals) and impact (both economic and social).

Zambia’s ranks very well in the environment sub-index, but not so well in infrastructure, individual usage, and economic impact of ICTs.

The full report can be downloaded here.