The World Economic Forum released its annual Global Information Technology Report, which ranks over a 115 countries in the world in its Networked Readiness Index, based on the relative ICT development in the individual countries.

The link between development in a nation’s ICT infrastructure and economic prosperity has long been examined by economists and policy makers, with most agreeing that there is a strong link between the two.

It is can argued that technological advances in information and communication technology over recent decades have transformed the way businesses are operating, and have resulted in changes in the patterns of global trade in goods and services.

In today’s modern world, a lack in investments in a nation’s ICT infrastructure could see it being left behind in the continent’s development race. The Global Information Technology Report has ranked countries according to the efforts made to improve their already existing ICT facilities and we at ClickAfrique have profiled the top ten performers in Africa for 2005 and put their world rankings in brackets.

10. Tanzania (84) - Said to have one of the best communication policy in sub-Saharan Africa, Tanzania has long recognized the importance of its ICT industry and has been implementing government policies since the 1990s to position itself as one of the front runners on the continent. However poor implementation has seen its ICT infrastructure underutilised. Mobile phone users far out strips its land phones by 10 to 1.

9. Uganda (79) - Recently fully liberalised its telecommunications infrastructure provisioning, paving way for more operators to join the existing two mobile phone operators. Its ICT sector has been growing at a 25% annual rate for the past five years and the government has set up an ICT ministry to oversee growth in the sector. However the government willingness to go all out to improve the ICT development took a dent when it failed to finance an Information Communication Technologies incubation centre, which was being setup to attract more businesses to the ICT sector.

8. Namibia (78) - Namibia has good ICT facilities and good telephone penetration, with 6 fixed line telephones for every 100 persons in the country, and twice that number for mobile phones. Significant ICT investments in recent years mean that Namibia would soon be boosting a modern ICT platform that incorporates the latest communication technology, including ADSL and mobile broadband services.

7. Morocco (77) - The development of ICT solutions has achieved great significance in Morocco as both the public and private sector have understood its importance in building a strong economic infrastructure. It has a modern phone system; with the national network nearly 100% digital using fiber-optic links. Internet access is readily available but expensive.

6. Egypt (63) - Egypt takes the digital age seriously and its Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, MCIT, was formed specifically to facilitate Egypt's transition into the global information society. With a relatively modern and large phone system (over 10 million fixed and 10 million mobile phone lines), the government has been launching initiatives around e-Readiness, e-Government, e-Learning, e-Business, e-Health, e-Culture and has been promoting investments in the sector. Internet access is readily available and cheap, and Technology clubs have been formed in major cities around the country to encourage more of its citizens to get online.

5. Ghana (61) - Ghana rebound from weak investments in its ICT sector from 2004 to see the fixed and mobile phone line penetration jump from 5 percent to 15 percent in 2005. Ghana with the help of the World Bank has been accelerating its “eGhana" project aimed at creating jobs, diversifying information and communication technology services and providing more efficient government services delivery through the use of ICT applications and public-private partnerships.

4. Botswana (56) - Botswana has a rapidly expanding ICT sector, with most businesses providing their staff with Internet and email access at their desks. Botswana has introduced an ambitious and widely supported policy, the National ICT Policy - Vision 2016, which aims to provide its all citizens access to telephones and have the latest ICT technologies readily available by the year 2016.

3. Mauritius (45) – The Mauritius government places emphasis on the development of the ICT sector with a small but well-developed digital infrastructure and offers state-of-the-art telecommunications facilities including international leased lines and high speed Internet access. Telecommunications services have also improved since being liberalised in January 2003.

2. South Africa (37) - South Africa has the most modern and best developed telephone system in Africa, however most of its infrastructure is poorly linked and spread unevenly throughout the country. Having said that, South Africa’s ICT sector is very vibrant with annual investments of $9.6 billion and the South African government has implemented policies that aim to make South Africa a truly networked and informed society.

1. Tunisia (36) - Africa’s top performer belongs to Tunisia. While its ICT sector pales in comparison to that of the second placed South Africa, Tunisia has come through leaps and bounds in the last twenty years. The government has put ICT in the forefront, giving impetus to development of technologies and turning them among into major vectors of Tunisia’s social and economic development. Along with this, Tunisia has implemented a multidimensional strategy centered on modernising its physical infrastructure, setting up a complimentary legal and statutory framework and reforming its education system, bearing in mind that the requirements for new ICT where higher education is closely related to innovating and creative scientific research.