E-government implementation in Zambia: contributing factors

Most developing countries in Africa are at the emerging stage of e-government development and lag far behind developed nations, despite having had national e-government strategies in place for a considerable period of time. This research argues that although Zambia has recognised the importance of e-government, its benefits are yet to be realised. The paper explores the reality of e-government implementation in Zambia using survey based research. The authors found that while challenges such as environmental issues, leadership, change management, human capital, funding and infrastructure are critical to the successful implementation of e-government in Zambia, there is little evidence to suggest that effort is being applied to counteract these challenges. The lack of context-specific e-government programmes and the absence of marketing to promote e-government among policymakers and government workers have resulted in minimal awareness about the importance and value of e-government to Zambia.