Research firm the International Data Corporation (IDC) has painted a grim picture about South Africa's leadership position when it comes to the ICT industry going into 2015.

The IDC released its 'Top 10 ICT sub-Saharan Africa Predictions 2015' on Tuesday, and one of the firm's key predictions is that 'governments with relevant national ICT policies will begin to dominate the economic landscape'.

The South African government has to take a position and exercise strong leadership said Mark Walker, regional director for sub-Saharan Africa IDC Middle East, Africa and Turkey.

"There has been a lot white papers and green papers, workshops and summits that have been done over the last three to five years, there's been a lot of talk, there's been a lot of planning, strategizing... but I don't see a lot of results," says Walker.

Leadership is co-ordination and facilitation it is not ownership, he stated.

Where South Africa used to be the leader with an ICT edge, it is now lagging behind sub-Saharan African counterparts like Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia, Walker continued.

South Africa's ICT sector, including telecommunications, will grow by 2.7% from 2013 to 2018, the IDC predicts.

While in countries like Kenya and Nigeria that sector is expected to grow by 3.7% and 3.9% respectively over the same period.

Walker explained that in Kenya the ICT authority's vision is supported by private sector initiatives, which provide guidance and policy to facilitate the growth of the ICT sector. And the same can be said about Nigeria.

South Africa on the other hand has almost given up its position, he said.

"Five or six years ago South Africa was very much still seen as the gateway to Africa," Walker noted.

Since the cable landed in Kenya, the country ran with it. The more Kenya ran, the more we sat back, said Walker.

"South Africa has a long catch up to do and as more African countries connect onto the backbone we will see increased levels of competition.

"And again this is where government has to step up. South Africa leadership here is lacking," Walker stated.

Reliable leadership

Lise Hagen, IT and telecoms strategy at IDC, said the fact South Africa has changed communications ministers numerous times has not helped the southern African nation.

"Eight communications ministers, non delivery of projects like digital TV... This is not a track record that anyone can be proud of," said Walker.

"If you look in Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda the track record is far stronger and they have strong national ICT policies.

"Through strong leadership and application of technology, those countries have managed to build success stories like nowhere else in the world," said Walker.

According to the IDC increased government policies and relevant processes that favour ICT activities in the society will have a significant impact in African countries.

George Kalebaila, senior research manager for telecoms and media at the IDC, added that in regions like Botswana, Namibia and Mozambique government is taking leadership in driving policies that anchor the development.

"Governments have a very major role to play in stabilising the ICT industry and attracting investment," said Kalebaila.

Currently Nigeria's ICT sector contributes just over 8% to the country's gross domestic product (GDP), and in Kenya the ICT sector contributes some 12% to GDP, Kalebaila explained.

South Africa's ICT sector contributed between 5 and 5.5% to the overall GDP in 2013, according to Frost & Sullivan.

Despite its challenges, South Africa's ICT sector remains popular within the country and analysts have emphasised its strengths compared with counterparts on the continent.

Naila Govan-Vassen, ICT industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan, told ITWeb Africa over the past two decades, South Africa's ICT sector has developed and evolved to become one of the country's most attractive sectors.

"When compared to other nations, such as Nigeria, Kenya and Rwanda, South Africa has leapfrogged ahead of its peers in terms of ICT capabilities and ease of doing business," she said.

The country does, however, face a number of key challenges; namely, shortage of skilled resources and a lack of competition in the ICT sector despite strong growth in the telecoms sector, Govan-Vassen stated.

Involvement from government is also crucial for the development of ICT in South Africa, even though the country has state-of the-art ICT capabilities, Govan-Vassen added.