E-government implementation in Zambia: Contributing factors

Most developing countries in Africa are at the emerging stage of e-government development and lag far behind developed nations despite having had national e-government strategies in place for a considerable period of time. This research argues that although Zambia has recognised the importance of e-government through their national ICT policy as a means to increase opportunities for wealth and create active participation in poverty reduction, the benefits of e-government are yet to be realised. The research explores the reality of egovernment implementation in Zambia from the government's perspective by identifying the challenges of e-government using survey research that combines both qualitative and quantitative data. The authors found that whilst challenges such as environmental issues, leadership, change management, human capital, funding and infrastructure are critical to the successful implementation of e-government in Zambia, there is little evidence to suggest that effort is being applied to counteract these challenges. The lack of context specific egovernment programs since the approval of the national ICT policy in 2005 and the absence of marketing to promote e-government amongst policy-makers and government workers have rendered minimal awareness on the importance and value of e-government to Zambia.