FIGURE 3 ICT SECTOR SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES • Growth in demand in ICT services • High profitability of mobile industry • The government’s high interest and prioritisation of ICT in National Strategy and Economic Recovery plan interest; • Limited competition on telecommunications environment; • Limited and unstable telecommunications infrastructure • Weak ICT industry base • Telecommunications liberalisation and Communications Regulatory framework in place; • Strong regulation imposed on most of industry sectors • Education and Training of human resources on the increase; • Mismatch of ICT manpower supply and demand • Commitment to digital inclusion through universal access initiatives • Public’s lack of ICT knowledge • Relatively cheap labor cost • Inadequate ICT professionals on labour market • Inadequate ICT infrastructure • High cost Internet bandwidth • No legal framework yet, still under development • Low financial budget allocation to ICT • Low industrial base • Poor innovation culture which is indispensable to ICT development. OPPORTUNITIES THREATS • Intense business competition from advanced countries • Application support failures and lack of upgrade threaten already automated services • Instability of the Malawi Kwacha on money market and low efficiency in macro economy Regional cooperation with SADC, Donor community and others • Weak financial industry base and structure • Strong determination on ICT based growth • Limited foreign investment • Increasing demand to result in a number of ICT service outsourcing • Low ICT incentives on labor market • Brain drain of ICT human resources • New administration with new National ICT Policy direction • Green opportunities for developing software solutions and content • Improving international cooperation environment • 25 Formatted: Font: