South Africa has fallen even further in the global ICT readiness stakes, according to the 2015 edition of The Global Information Technology released by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The country fell from a dismal number 70 out of 143 countries to 75 in the 2015 Networked Readiness Index.
Although South Africa performed well in its policy and regulatory framework score, ranked at number 24, other areas didn’t perform so well.
South Africa was ranked 55 for its business and innovation environment; 85 for its infrastructure; 107 for affordability; 95 in terms of skills; 68 for individual usage; 34 for business usage; 105 for government usage; 58 for economic impact; and 110 for social impact.
According to the WEF, the report iss 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.
Advanced economies have not yet reached their full potential and they struggle with persistently high unemployment, rising inequalities, and fiscal challenges, the organisation states.
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.
It highlights the performance of sub-Saharan Africa as particularly disappointing: 30 of the 31 countries included in the sample appear in the bottom half of the NRI rankings. The only exception is Mauritius, at 45th, which has progressed three places since last year and eight since 2012.
Among the large economies of the region, Nigeria drops seven places to 119th. South Africa drops five to 75th – and is now third in the region behind Mauritius and Seychelles (74th). In contrast, Kenya (86th, up six) has been slowly improving since 2012.