Fourteen
countries have been ranked ahead of Nigeria in Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) development in Africa.
The
International Telecommunications Union (ITU) stated this yesterday in a report
on the 2017 ICT Development Index (IDI), which measured the information
society.
According
to the report, Mauritius, Seycheles, South Africa, Cape Verde, Bostwana, Gabon,
Ghana, Namibia, Cote d’Ivoire, Sao Tome and Principle, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Kenya
and Senegal are ahead of Nigeria in the ranking.
The
IDI survey, which examined about 38 countries in Africa, is a yearly report
that studies the adoption of new technology trends and growth of ICT among
countries.
The
report showed that while some countries recorded growths in the last one year,
Nigeria remained stagnant at 15th position, while Seychelles, which ranked
fourth in 2016, moved two positions upward to become second a year later.
Also,
Cote d’Ivoire, which ranked 12th position a year ago, moved to the ninth in
2017.
Mauritius
maintained the number one position back-to-back in Africa and ranked 72nd in
2017 globally, from its 75th position a year ago. Nigeria maintained same spot
globally and regionally in 2016 and 2017, ranking 143rd out of 176 countries
surveyed by the ITU.
The
telecoms union stated that Africa has by far the lowest average IDI performance
in any region, adding that only one country, Mauritius falls into the top half
of the IDI distribution or exceeded the global average value for IDI 2017.
It
added that only four more countries: Seychelles, South Africa, Cape Verde and
Botswana, exceeded the average value of 4.26 for developing countries.
ITU
Secretary-General, Houlin Zhao, who called for Africa’s governments’ attention
on ICT, noted that a revolution would unfold in the coming decades with
unpredictable opportunities, challenges and implications.
Also,
a telecoms expert, Kehinde Aluko, cautioned that until the fundamental
challenges hindering innovations and creativity are removed, the country would
continue to experience a lull in technology development.
Source: GuardianNG
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