IBM SA Country Manager Hamilton Ratshefola did not hold back during a panel discussion on ways to ensure effective partnerships between business and government in Johannesburg this week.

Speaking at the Ernst & Young's Strategic Growth Forum Africa event Ratshefola said that South Africa is failing to keep up with the progress made by African counterparts.

"If you take East Africa, Kenya, probably Rwanda - those countries - and you see how they have adopted and made the right policies in technology and how they advance citizens, getting technology - getting things to happen. They are really on the ball, they've gotten it right, they are doing the right things for their citizens. Now I come back home in South Africa, our government is protective, it is lethargic, it has not done a lot, they've been talking e-government for years (and) they've done very little...they've got all the capacity and capability to make it happen but the people who run the state absolutely have no clue what they need to do. It has been more than ten years we have been overtaken by guys like Kenya in terms of e-government, citizen engagement."

Ratshefola's criticism came only a few days after the Gauteng provincial government (which contributes the most to South Africa's GDP according to its Socio-Economic Review and Outlook 2015) convened a two-day ICT summit where the implementation of ICT initiatives and improvement of front-line service delivery to citizens was discussed.

The IBM head feels that time South Africa has a lot of ground to make up and should take lessons from other African nations.

"My view is that we've got the capability to do those things. So you can see good policies, implementation behind it, great vision. You come home this side, a great economy, that can do a lot more but it is underperforming.On that other side of the business you've got countries with great vision, good leaders actually closing the gap, adopting quicker, skipping other steps. And therefore the beauty of technology is that you can skip the steps the West has made and jump to the latest applications, latest infrastructure and be already on the cutting. So you don't have to wait for years. You have to adopt and move with speed and East Africa is doing the right thing in that region and the rest of Africa needs to catch up."

The challenge for African governments according to Ratshefola is that technology will not wait for anyone and citizens will use whatever is affordable and available.

Governments, he said, will need to move quickly.

Prospects for regional integration

Ratshefola believes continent wide progress is essential in order for any technological advancement to be impactful.

He told delegates that regional integration would unlock the every each county's potential although it cannot be achieved easily.

Infrastructure to process the clearing of goods at customs is one of the challenges Ratshefola referred to. "Countries which are transforming quicker will leave many others behind and integration becomes difficult if your infrastructure is not compatible. So if we have a common border zone or economic zone and one of the people in the zone does not have the right abilities to do VAT, taxes you are going to be left behind. Countries have to move up in all areas, administration, citizen access, all that has to move up."

William Asiko, chief executive officer at Investment Climate Facility for Africa shares Ratshefola's view on the need to give all of Africa the competitive edge by supporting transnational cooperation.

"The perfect example is Kenya. It recently launched e-government national payment gateway which really opens the door for e-government across all government departments. It started small with immigration and national registration and driver's license but the plan is for it to go to a total e-government platform and it will get there but the example that they saw was in Rwanda. Rwanda has started on e-government before and obviously Kenya has taken a further leap ahead in doing it. What this does is that you will begin to see other governments taking it forward. You know your neighbours look and feel like you and if they can do it then you say 'oh well we can do it too."

Asiko also cautioned that while technology is a great way to drive integration between countries, political differences often hamper progress.

Building capacity

Ratshefola also recommended public–private partnerships as a way to accelerate Africa's progress.

He believes that the private sector has a responsibility to share expertise with the government for development and job creation without having vested interests. He said that this can be achieved in all industries - from oil to manufacturing, although it should be done subject to national laws and ethics of corporate governance.

"If a government can trust business, work with business and tap into its abilities a lot can be achieved."

South African government officials within the newly established e-Government initiative did not respond to requests for comment on Ratshefola's views.