Niger is a large, landlocked country mostly covered by the Sahara Desert. It’s one of the hottest countries in the world. The population is around 28 million, with many people living in rural areas and relying on agriculture. So what does this mean for government digitalization efforts?
Minimal focus on GovTech
When we look at Digital Niger, it’s clear that the country faces significant challenges… particularly when it comes to GovTech. According to the recent World Bank’s GTMI report, Niger has a “minimal focus on GovTech.” This indicates a limited emphasis on integrating technology within government operations and services, which is a crucial area for modernizing public administration.
Niger also falls into the low EGDI group (which stands for the E-Government Development Index.) This index measures a country’s use of technology to deliver public services, and being in the low group means that Niger is struggling with its digital governance capabilities. Being in this group typically means that a country faces significant challenges in digital development, and most countries in this category are either Least Developed Countries (LDCs) or Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs).. which Niger happens to be both.
This dual classification highlights the compounded difficulties the country faces…. from economic constraints to geographical challenges.
In terms of e-governance, Niger was ranked 188th out of 193 countries assessed, which is quite low. However, there’s a glimmer of hope when we look at e-participation, where Niger holds the 135th place. This ranking shows that while the overall digital governance infrastructure might be lacking, there has been some progress in engaging citizens online.
In fact, according to the UN E-government Knowledgebase, Niger hasn’t seen any improvement in its e-governance ranking since 2020, maintaining the same place. Yet, in e-participation, Niger has improved its ranking by 35 places in just two years. This rise suggests a growing engagement and involvement of citizens in the digital governance processes, which I believe is a good sign for the country’s future in digital governance.
What I like most about this progress is that despite Niger’s low levels of infrastructure and human capital development, it has managed to fall into the middle OSI group. The OSI (or Online Service Index) measures the extent of online service delivery.
I’d like to add that this achievement demonstrates that even with somewhat limited resources, Niger has seen progress in providing online services. So, this indicates that investment in online service delivery IS possible and can yield positive results (regardless of the infrastructural and human capital challenges the country faces.)
Connectivity is a HUGE issue
At the start of 2024, the internet penetration rate in Niger stood at a modest 16.9% of the total population. This means that, despite a growth of 172 thousand internet users between January 2023 and January 2024—a 3.8% increase—the vast majority of the population remains offline.
Specifically, 23.02 million people, or 83.1% of the population, did not use the internet at the beginning of this year.
In addition, the number of cellular mobile connections in Niger was 16.46 million in early 2024, equating to 59.4% of the total population. While this suggests a relatively widespread availability of mobile technology, it doesn’t necessarily translate to internet access or usage, especially given the low internet penetration rate.
So, what does this mean for the digital transformation of Niger’s government?
First and foremost, limited internet access is a major barrier. When only a small fraction of the population is online, the reach and impact of digital government services are inherently restricted. For digital governance to be effective, a significant portion of the population needs to be connected and able to access online services. However, with more than four-fifths of the population offline, many citizens are excluded from digital initiatives, which (ultimately) hinders the government’s ability to implement broad-based digital reforms.
Also… the disparity between mobile connections and actual internet usage suggests other underlying issues. Perhaps, there are gaps in digital literacy, affordability, or infrastructure that prevent mobile users from accessing the internet. Addressing these issues is important because merely having a mobile connection isn’t enough if it doesn’t lead to meaningful internet use.
Final thoughts
So, while Digital Niger faces substantial challenges, especially in terms of GovTech and overall e-governance, the improvements in e-participation and online services are promising. They show that progress is being made and that there is potential for further development. But, the focus now should be on leveraging these gains to enhance the overall digital governance.
Sources:
https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/Data/Country-Information/id/124-Niger
https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/DDD/ddd_NER.pdf
https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-niger?rq=niger
