• The third annual edition of the Digital Quality of Life Index (DQL) ranked Kenya 79th among 110 countries.
• Kenya displays its best scores in e-security (54th) and e-infrastructure (58th), but shows comparatively low results in internet affordability (101st), internet quality (108th) and e-government (71st).
Kenya is ranked 79th in the World Digital Quality of life index 2021.
The third annual edition of the Digital Quality of Life Index (DQL) ranked Kenya 79th among 110 countries.
The global digital wellbeing study shows that Kenya has dropped two places down since last year and is now ranked third in Africa.
Covering 90 per cent of the global population, the DQL study is conducted by the cybersecurity company Surfshark and evaluates countries based on a set of five fundamental digital wellbeing pillars.
Kenya displays its best scores in e-security (54th) and e-infrastructure (58th), but shows comparatively low results in internet affordability (101st), internet quality (108th) and e-government (71st).
Overall, Kenya has slightly dropped compared to DQL 2021, falling from 77th to 79th.
Kenya ranks second in Eastern Africa, surpassing Zambia, Tanzania, and Ethiopia and third in Africa.
The country has the best e-infrastructure regionally, as the study suggests that around 85 per cent of individuals use the internet in Kenya.
Additionally, e-security in Kenya is 10 per cent better than the global average and also comes first among neighbouring countries.
However, the country has room for improvement in all digital wellbeing areas, especially internet affordability and quality.
Kenya has a similar GDP per capita as Nigeria, but the internet quality of both countries differs substantially.
Nigeria ranks 56th in the pillar, while Kenya barely makes it to the top 110.
People in Kenya have to work almost 13 hours to afford the cheapest broadband internet package, which is twice as much as the global average.
Moreover, people in South Africa have to work nine times less than in Kenya to afford mobile internet and eight times less to pay for broadband internet.
Tanzania ranks 97th (0.0778) beating Kenya at 108th (0.0563) in terms of Internet quality.
“Digital opportunities have proved to be more important than ever during the Covid-19 crisis, stressing the importance for every country to ensure fully remote operational capacities for their economies,” – explains Vytautas Kaziukonis, CEO of Surfshark.
“That is why, for the third year in a row, we continue the Digital Quality of Life research, which provides a robust global outlook into how countries excel digitally. The index sets the basis for meaningful discussions about how digital advancement impacts a country’s prosperity and where improvements can be made.”
In an all-around picture, six out of 10 countries holding the highest scores are located in Europe, following last year’s trend.
Denmark ranks first in DQL for the second year in a row and is closely followed by South Korea.
Finland ranks third, while Israel and the US round out the top five of 110 nations that were evaluated.
The bottom five countries are Ethiopia, Cambodia, Cameroon, Guatemala, and Angola.
Regionally, the US stands out as a country with the highest digital quality of life in the Americas, while South Korea takes the leading position in Asia.
Among countries in Africa, people in South Africa enjoy the highest quality of their digital lives whereas Australia leads in Oceania, outperforming New Zealand in various digital areas.
The 2021 DQL research examined a total population of more than 6.9 billion people in terms of five core pillars and 14 underpinning indicators that provide a comprehensive measure.
The study is based on open-source information provided by the United Nations, the World Bank, Freedom House, the International Communications Union, and other sources.
Edited by D Tarus