Nigeria missing in WEF’s rank of top 10 African ICT Nations-Report
Despite the various initiatives being undertaken by the private and public institutions to transform Nigeria to a digital economy, the country’s profile is missing in the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2016 global report on information technologies, dubbed: “Innovation in Digital Economy,”
The World Economic Forum in its 2016 global report assessed countries that integrate ICTs in their socio-economic development, and going by the template of the report, integration relates to the use of ICTs by the government, companies and populations.
In Africa, Mauritius, though 49th in the world, remains the most advanced. The island is followed by South Africa (65th worldwide), Seychelles (74th), Morocco (78th), Rwanda (80th), Tunisia (81st), Cape Verde (85th), Kenya (86th), Egypt (96th), Namibia (99th) and Botswana (101st).
Last in line are Benin (128th), Swaziland (129th), Liberia (130th), Malawi (132nd), Guinea (134th), Madagascar (135th) Mauritania (136th), Burundi (138th), and Chad (139th).
The report also showed the performances of nations in the emerging and developed climes compared with the level of ICTs integration in Africa. while Singapore and Finland, respectively recorded first and second in WEF’s report, reached 5 on a scale of 7 in terms of ICT’s impact on the economy, African countries float around 2.9 points average.
In developed economies, while populations, then companies and government, in that order, are the one to rely on ICTs most, in Africa, it is first the government, then companies followed by populations that use the technologies.
