Digitalisation and the Africa We Want: Introducing the GSMA Digital Africa Index

While the transformative socioeconomic impacts of digital technologies are well established, a digital divide persists in Africa, where around two thirds of the population do not currently use mobile internet.

Against this backdrop, the GSMA has launched the Digital Africa Index – an interactive web tool to support policymakers and regulators. The web tool consists of two composite indices: the Digital Nations and Society Index (DNSI) and the Digital Policy and Regulatory Index (DPRI).

The DNSI provides a comprehensive assessment of digital adoption and use by consumers, businesses and governments, while the DPRI provides an evidence-based assessment of the policy levers governments can pull to accelerate their objectives for the adoption of digital technology.

By using the two indices together, policymakers, operators and other stakeholders in Africa can identify which areas of digital adoption and usage are lagging, and pinpoint the policy bottlenecks.

Results from this first edition provide clear evidence that countries with enabling policies and regulations are more likely to have higher levels of digital development, brought about by high levels of mobile broadband adoption.

Visit the Digital Africa Index website at www.gsma.com/digital-africa-index