A global e-government survey conducted by Brown University in the US rates Egypt as being at the higher end of e-government readiness (49th out of 196 countries), with an implementation strategy comparable to many developed countries.
Mozambique, on the other hand, provides a perfect example of the mammoth task that most African countries are facing. It is recovering from long years of war, the ravages of famine and HIV/Aids, and huge international debt.
Mozambique has a fixed-line teledensity of 1% while three in 1 000 people use a computer and two in 10 000 use the Internet. The e-government study rates Mozambique at 181.
Ahmed Darwish, e-government programme director for Egypt, says there has to be a willingness and support from high levels of leadership in government for such projects to be implemented successfully.
“Seven million telephone subscribers have access to the Internet and 1.5 million of them are using it. We have laid down the base, which augurs well for our future. Both Internet and voice calls are charged at US25c an hour.”
Darwish, speaking to ITWeb at the e-Africa Workshop in Kempton Park this week, said the project owes its success mostly to the co-operation between the state-owned Telekom Egypt (TE) and Internet service providers (ISPs).
“Seventy percent of TE's revenue goes to ISPs who have in turn ensured that telephone subscribers pay no monthly subscription fees. This is a successful business model that is benefiting both partners, the TE and ISPs.”
He says the project, which started in the main cities of Cairo and Alexandria 11 months ago and now covers the entire country, fits into the framework of the communications IT national plan, which incorporates e-government.
“We are trying to negotiate with the Italian government with the view of working together, after they made a commitment at the last G8 meeting to play an active role in implementing e-government in Africa. We would also like to share our expertise with the African family.
“There is a willingness and commitment from the government to serve the Egyptian public with ICT and to make government services more accessible.”
Quelle: iTWeb
