African national regulatory authority benchmarking
Date
2008
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Publisher
Southern African Journal of Information and Communication (SAJIC), The Edge Institute / Research ICT Africa, Braamfontein, ZA
Abstract
This paper provides an overview of the extent to which regulators are using websites to inform and communicate with
the public – including consumers and citizens, the private sector, media and researchers and other governmental and nongovernmental
organisations.
The study follows a previous regional survey conducted in 2004, (Mahan 2004) that ranked the online component of information
provision and facilitation of regulatory processes by National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) in the communications sector.
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The benchmarking assessment documents the incidence of different aspects that are important for a regulator’s web presence across
the categories of basic information and responsiveness, factual information about the national telecom sector, consumer and citizen
information including universal service and complaints procedures, business-related information and forms, and information about
the regulator and regulatory processes.
A country’s inclusion in the assessment was contingent on the country having an independent authority
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and the authority having
a functioning website. Out of a total of 54 countries in Africa, 30 had regulatory institutions that could be classified as independent
with websites and 24 did not have websites. The countries were assessed by region (North, South, Central, East and West Africa,
and Island countries).
The benchmarking results show marked differences across countries and regions. Egypt received the highest score and performed
well across all categories. The NRAs of Nigeria, Mauritius, Kenya and South Africa were ranked in the top five. Following closely are
Uganda, Algeria, Senegal and Tanzania. The top ten NRAs were considered to have had adequate content in support of users being
informed and being able to participate in regulatory processes. Overall, the total African regional average was low, with a benchmark
indicating that national regulatory authority websites hover between static and emerging levels of information provision.
The analysis provides a summarised overview of the performance of African regulatory websites within the benchmarking criteria. It
should be noted that this analysis does not judge websites by their look and feel; the main aim of the analysis rather focuses on
the content that is provided and the ease of using or accessing the requisite information. It is hoped that this study will provide
African regulators with an insight into what their users will most likely be looking for when searching through their websites. The
study also highlights best practices that can be replicated.
Description
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Journal Article (peer-reviewed)
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Keywords
NATIONAL REGULATORY AUTHORITIES, WEBSITES, BENCHMARKING, ICT POLICY, ACCESS TO INFORMATION, REGULATORY WEBSITES, AFRICA