Botswana scores poorly in Digital Competitiveness Report
Botswana urgently needs to fast- track its efforts in order to foster the development of a knowledge- intensive economy that can explore, adapt and produce digital technologies at scale. The Institute for Management Development ( IMD) released the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Report for 2021, and ranks Botswana 63rd out of the 64 economies included in the 2021 IMD World Digital Competitiveness Report, with a digital competitiveness index score of 33.004 out of 100. The Digital Competitiveness Report is a follow up to the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook for 2021, which was released in June, 2021. This report assesses 64 economies in terms of their capacity and ability to adapt and explore digital technologies that can lead to transformation in business models, government practices and society in general. Botswana is included for the first time among these 64 countries due to a 2020 partnership agreement between IMD and the Botswana National Productivity Centre ( BNPC). The inclusion in this report is timely as it provides valuable information that will guide focused actions aimed at improving and accelerating the digital transition, which is one of the top priorities of the government’s Reset Agenda. According to the report, Botswana performed extremely poorly in this factor with the only positive aspect being the low level of Entrepreneurial Fear of Failure ( 2nd).
“Unfortunately, the country is challenged in the use of big data and analytics ( 64th), low level of Public- Private Partnerships ( 62nd), low agility of companies ( 62nd), low levels of E- Government ( 60th) and low knowledge transfers ( 60th),” the report says. The rankings and scores of the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Report are conducted for three key factors, namely, Knowledge, Technology, and Future- Readiness.
Knowledge refers to intangible infrastructure, which underlines the process of digital transformation through the discovery, understanding and learning of new technologies.
The Technology aspects consider the overall context in which the development of digital technologies is enabled; while Future- Readiness assesses the degree of technology adoption by government, business, and society in general.
Under the various factors, Botswana ranked; 64th with a score of 32.58 out of 100 with regards to the Knowledge factor, 63rd in the Technology factor with a score of 23.35 out of 100, and 63rd in the Future- Readiness factor with a score of 16.18 out of 100.
Botswana is ranked poorly on the availability of hi- tech patent grants, employee training, as well as for digital/ technological skills and lack of international experience.
For the technology factor, which assesses key elements around the regulatory framework, capital and the technological framework, Botswana is not doing well.
The report shows that key strengths in this factor included the country’s sound credit rating 39th, investment in telecommunication 41st and availability of scientific research legislation at 49th position.
“Despite these strengths, intensified efforts are required as the country is not doing well in the development and application of technology ranked at ( 64th) position, funding for technological development at ( 63rd) position, internet bandwidth speed also at ( 63rd) ranking, and percentage of high- technology exports at ( 63rd) position”. However, to bridge the digital divide,
Botswana is working on accelerating its transition to a digital economy by investing P3.1 billion through the Economic Transformation Recovery Plan ( ETRP). This will include initiatives aimed at addressing digital infrastructure gaps ( SMART- Bots), automating land registration, expanding the biometric identification, the ef
fective rollout of e- government services, and promoting digital payment infrastructure. The report indicates that leading economies mainly sustain their digital competitiveness through their performance particularly by remaining adaptive and agile. Botswana therefore needs to intensify efforts of promoting digital literacy and awareness at the national level, to improve agility and adaptability in the digital space. The United States of America is ranked 1st, in the Digital Competitiveness Rankings, followed by Hong Kong, Sweden, Denmark, and Singapore respectively taking the top five rankings, according to the report.