Assessing E-Government Maturity in Business Registration Processes in South Africa and the SADC

Abstract

This study examines the degree to which selected Southern African countries’ business registration activities have advanced towards the fourth or integrated services stage of the United Nations e-government maturity model. It also examines practices that represent this integrated stage by looking at the best performers in terms of the Online Services Index (OSI). The study argues that a connected, coordinated, and integrated approach (represented in the fourth stage of the maturity model) would ensure efficiency and ease in business registration, encouraging the formalisation of mostly small enterprises in the SADC region. The study uses qualitative research methods and analyses data from official business registration websites from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mauritius, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Estonia, Finland, Denmark, Singapore, and New Zealand. The study found a strong transactional presence stage in SADC countries, with some elements of the connected presence visible. There is considerably limited evidence of government department vertical and horizontal integration. South Africa and SADC countries need to step up the horizontal and vertical integration of business formalisation services to reduce business informality while enhancing support for new ventures.