Sunday, July 24, 2011

Africa - ranking of nations for ICT has S Africa, Nigeria and Kenya in the lead

[the monitor] Uganda is among the top 10 African economies that will be key players in the African Information and Communication Technology sector in the next five years, according to a new study.

The group is led by South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya while Uganda comes in the ninth position above Zimbabwe but below Angola.

The countries have been ranked by the Africa Business Confidence Index a survey conducted by Africa Business Panel among 800 business professionals from more than 30 African countries. The results are based on the purchase managers index methodology used globally.

The outcome of the business confidence index is consistent with the trust of the international investor community in Africa, according to Martin de Koning, a telecommunications consultant at NarrowMinds in Netherlands.

"This is attracting the attention of the international investor community who increasingly see Africa as 'the last frontier' for attractive growth opportunities," Mr Koning who doubles as an executive on the Africa Business Panel said.

"Research and numerous survey results among the international investor community consistently indicate that investors expect over half of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world in 2011 to be African."

Growth in Africa's ICT sector has been accelerated in recent years due to improvements in infrastructure, the arrival of wireless access technologies like mobile phones and lower tariffs, according to the Africa Internet, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics report by researcher Peter Lange.

The growth of Uganda's ICT sector has been attributed to its liberalisation by the government in 1996.The liberalisation policy has attracted Foreign Direct Investment and market competition among players.

The main drivers of the sector include; telecommunication companies; including MTN, Orange Uganda, Warid and Airtel Uganda. Others are smaller Internet Service Providers like radio and television companies.

Nation Ranks Ninth in IT Use On Continent

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