Morocco is ranked first in North Africa, according to the Inclusive Internet Index. Meanwhile, the country is positioned 2nd in the continent behind South Africa. Morocco ranks 2nd out of 24 African countries, according to the 2018 Inclusive Internet Index issued Monday by Facebook. The survey conducted by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) and which investigates each country's internet inclusion puts Morocco in the 53rd position out of 86 nations, ahead of Egypt (55th), Nigeria (56th), and Kenya (57) and behind South Africa 39th. The kingdom was ranked 1st in North Africa in front of Egypt and Algeria (66th). In the Arab world, UAE (37th) headed the region leaving Kuwait (40th), Oman (44th) and Saudi Arabia (44th) behind. Based on four categories the report assesses the availability, affordability relevance and readiness of internet in all of the countries studied. In Morocco, for example, availability is the strongest factor that characterizes connectivity in the country. The kingdom ranks 45th in this category, 59th in affordability, 55th in relevance and 60th when it comes to readiness. On the other hand it is positioned 56th in literacy, 56th in trust and safety and 60th when it comes to the policy applied to the use of internet. Positive infrastructure According to the note explaining the situation of the Kingdom, the authors of the report state that Moroccan internet «infrastructure, ranked 38th out of 86, is a positive area, thanks to good network coverage and strong Wi-Fi initiatives». They added that «despite solid local content, its Relevance rank is still only 12th out of 23 lower-middle-income countries, mainly because of limited e-Finance and e-Health content». Globally, the survey was topped by Sweden 1st, Singapore 2nd, USA 3rd, Denmark 4th and South Korea 5th. On the other hand, Burkina Faso (82nd), Liberia (83), Madagascar (84th), Malawi (85th) and Congo (86th) are at the bottom of the ranking. Overall, the authors of the report stress the fact that «global connectivity has increased 8.3%, and more people are connected than ever before. While this progress is encouraging, we are still far from achieving full internet inclusivity». Meanwhile, in Africa «emerging markets experienced the fastest and greatest progress over the last year».
