A critical examination of socioeconomic and demographic factors as determinants of e-government adoption among residents in Zimbabwe’s two local authorities

Abstract

Zimbabwe has a long history with e-government. The Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) traces back the first introduction of an electronic system in the Zimbabwean government to 1972 with the introduction of the Central Computing Services (CCS), which fell under the Ministry of Finance, whose main function was to provide information and communication technology (ICT) services to the public service.¹ In spite of this relatively long history, e-government in Zimbabwe has not developed at a consistent pace and, as will be revealed in the paper, the country is ranked low on the United Nations (UN) Electronic Government Development Index (EGDI).² There have been few e-government studies in Zimbabwe and most of these have focused on the national picture. As a result, there is a dearth of scholarly work on e-government as it is unfolding at the local sphere of government. The aim of this paper is to provide a critical examination of socioeconomic  and demographic factors as determinants of e-government adoption among residents in selected local authorities in the country. This study, therefore, makes a contribution on how these identified factors impact on e-government adoption. A major finding in the study is that most of the socioeconomic and demographic factors, with the exception of gender, determine e-government adoption in the two local authorities. Consequently, the paper recommends that local authorities in Zimbabwe, and indeed elsewhere, need to have an understanding of the relevant socioeconomic and demographic characteristics before they come up with an e-government strategy. This would enable them to craft e-government strategies that would suit their localities.