Republic of Zambia Rapid eTrade Readiness Assessment

Abstract

The Zambia Rapid eTrade Readiness Assessment is the fourteenth such assessment conducted by UNCTAD and the second in Eastern and Southern Africa. There is significant potential for e-commerce development in Zambia. Despite the potential of e-commerce to boost productivity and increase access to new markets, several challenges and roadblocks remain. A relatively strong policy framework for information and communications technologies (ICT) has been established in Zambia, however current national development policies and strategies remain rather silent on e-commerce. Most policies and strategies are focused on e-government. At the same time, many of the actions taken by the Government to strengthen e-government, such as improving ICT infrastructure and related technologies, strengthening human resource development and developing the legal and regulatory frameworks for e-government, will also strengthen the enabling environment for e-commerce. Coordination across the different activities and initiatives is limited, however, and more effort is needed to increase collaboration across stakeholder groups.