Comparison of sub‐Saharan Africa's e‐government status with developed and transitional nations

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to compare the e‐government status of sub‐Saharan African countries with developed and transitional countries. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on an analysis of eRepublic.org web directory and desk research. Besides, analyses of global e‐government, digital opportunity and information society indices are used. Findings Wide disparities in e‐government exist within regional trading blocs in sub‐Saharan Africa with Southern Africa far ahead of east and west Africa regions. Compared with other continents, sub‐Saharan Africa lags far behind Europe, North America and Asia in e‐government. Several barriers including infrastructure, policy, legal and skill factors are identified as limiting the opportunity for sub‐Saharan Africa to move government services online. Research limitations/implications Providing an accurate comparative picture of e‐government of sub‐Saharan Africa with developed and transitional economies is difficult because most e‐government studies hardly cover Africa. Besides, there is a general lack of reliable data about e‐government status in Africa as most government web sites are undeveloped. Practical implications Africa must invest more in infrastructure and enhance a legislative and policy framework to effectively compete with developed and transitional nations not only in e‐government, but also in international economy. Originality/value e‐Government comparative assessment of sub‐Saharan Africa with developed and transitional economies is based on several indices, thus providing a more informative picture of e‐government status in Africa. Africa can learn from the experiences and best practices of developed and transitional countries in e‐government development.