Digital Connectivity in sub-Saharan Africa: A Comparative Perspective
Title | Digital Connectivity in sub-Saharan Africa: A Comparative Perspective PDF eBook |
Author | Mr.Emre Alper |
Publisher | International Monetary Fund |
Total Pages | 44 |
Release | 2019-09-27 |
Genre | Business & Economics |
ISBN | 1513514601 |
Higher digital connectivity is expected to bring opportunities to leapfrog development in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Experience within the region demonstrates that if there is an adequate digital infrastructure and a supportive business environment, new forms of business spring up and create jobs for the educated as well as the less educated. The paper first confirms the global digital divide through the unsupervised machine learning clustering K-means algorithm. Next, it derives a composite digital connectivity index, in the spirit of De Muro-Mazziotta-Pareto, for about 190 economies. Descriptive analysis shows that majority of SSA countries lag in digital connectivity, specifically in infrastructure, internet usage, and knowledge. Finally, using fractional logit regressions we document that better business enabling and regulatory environment, financial access, and urbanization are associated with higher digital connectivity.
Bridging the Mobile Digital Divide in Sub-Saharan Africa: Costing under Demographic Change and Urbanization
Title | Bridging the Mobile Digital Divide in Sub-Saharan Africa: Costing under Demographic Change and Urbanization PDF eBook |
Author | Mr.Emre Alper |
Publisher | International Monetary Fund |
Total Pages | 40 |
Release | 2019-11-15 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 1513521853 |
Digital connectivity, including through the modern cellular network technologies, is expected to play a key role for the Future of Work in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We estimate the cost of introducing a full-scale 4G network by 2025 in SSA and an operable 5G network by 2040. We adapt the costing model of Lombardo (2019) by accounting for the significant demographic transformation and rapid urbanization in SSA. We use the WorldPop and GADM databases and the UN’s medium-variant population projections to project the population densities at the highest level of administrative division for each SSA country in 2025 and 2040. For full 4G connectivity, the required capital and operational costs stands approximately at US$14 billion by 2025 and for 5G connectivity, costs amount to US$57 billion in 2040, conditional on having the 4G in place by 2025. These costs roughly translate to 8.4 percent of annual subscriber income, on a median basis, by 2025 for 4G and 4.9 percent of subscriber income by 2040 for 5G. Having the infrastructure in place is not sufficient to bridge the mobile Digital Divide. In addition, policies are needed to address affordability and knowledge gaps.
Determinants of a Digital Divide in Sub- Saharan Africa
Title | Determinants of a Digital Divide in Sub- Saharan Africa PDF eBook |
Author | Piet Buys |
Publisher | World Bank Publications |
Total Pages | 26 |
Release | 2008 |
Genre | Cell phones |
ISBN | 2008021211 |
Most discussions of the digital divide treat it as a "North-South" issue, but the conventional dichotomy doesn't apply to cell phones in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although almost all Sub-Saharan countries are poor by international standards, they exhibit great disparities in coverage by cell telephone systems. Buys, Dasgupta, Thomas and Wheeler investigate the determinants of these disparities with a spatially-disaggregated model that employs locational information for cell-phone towers across over 990,000 4.6-km grid squares in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using probit techniques, a probability model with adjustments for spatial autocorrelation has been estimated that relates the likelihood of cell-tower location within a grid square to potential market size (proximate population); installation and maintenance cost factors related to accessibility (elevation, slope, distance from a main road, distance from the nearest large city); and national competition policy. Probit estimates indicate strong, significant results for the supply-demand variables, and very strong results for the competition policy index. Simulations based on the econometric results suggest that a generalized improvement in competition policy to a level that currently characterizes the best-performing states in Sub-Saharan Africa could lead to huge improvements in cell-phone area coverage for many states currently with poor policy performance, and an overall coverage increase of nearly 100 percent.
Internet Connectivity Seen as Having Positive Impact on Life in Sub-Saharan Africa
Title | Internet Connectivity Seen as Having Positive Impact on Life in Sub-Saharan Africa PDF eBook |
Author | Laura Silver |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 50 |
Release | 2018 |
Genre | Digital divide |
ISBN |
Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced dramatic gains in internet use in recent years. With this rapid growth in connectivity have come a host of potential problems, including fake news, political targeting and manipulation and financial scams, among others. Yet according to a new Pew Research Center analysis, most sub-Saharan Africans feel positively about the role the internet plays in their country. Large majorities say the increasing use of the internet has had a good influence on education in their country, and half or more say the same about the economy, personal relationships and politics. Only when it comes to the issue of morality are sub-Saharan Africans somewhat more divided about the role the internet is playing.
Mapping the Digital Divide in Africa
Title | Mapping the Digital Divide in Africa PDF eBook |
Author | Bruce Mutsvairo |
Publisher | Amsterdam University Press |
Total Pages | 279 |
Release | 2019-05-09 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 904853822X |
Despite issues associated with the digital divide, mobile telephony is growing on the continent and the rise of smartphones has given citizens easy access to social networking sites. But the digital divide, which mostly reflects on one's race, gender, socioeconomic status or geographical location, stands in the way of digital progress. What opportunities are available to tame digital disparities? How are different societies in Africa handling digital problems? What innovative methods are being used to provide citizens with access to critical information that can help improve their lives? Experiences from various locations in several sub-Saharan African countries have been carefully selected in this collection with the aim of providing an updated account on the digital divide and its impact in Africa.
Bridging the Mobile Digital Divide in Sub-Saharan Africa: Costing under Demographic Change and Urbanization
Title | Bridging the Mobile Digital Divide in Sub-Saharan Africa: Costing under Demographic Change and Urbanization PDF eBook |
Author | Mr.Emre Alper |
Publisher | International Monetary Fund |
Total Pages | 40 |
Release | 2019-11-15 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 1513519190 |
Digital connectivity, including through the modern cellular network technologies, is expected to play a key role for the Future of Work in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We estimate the cost of introducing a full-scale 4G network by 2025 in SSA and an operable 5G network by 2040. We adapt the costing model of Lombardo (2019) by accounting for the significant demographic transformation and rapid urbanization in SSA. We use the WorldPop and GADM databases and the UN’s medium-variant population projections to project the population densities at the highest level of administrative division for each SSA country in 2025 and 2040. For full 4G connectivity, the required capital and operational costs stands approximately at US$14 billion by 2025 and for 5G connectivity, costs amount to US$57 billion in 2040, conditional on having the 4G in place by 2025. These costs roughly translate to 8.4 percent of annual subscriber income, on a median basis, by 2025 for 4G and 4.9 percent of subscriber income by 2040 for 5G. Having the infrastructure in place is not sufficient to bridge the mobile Digital Divide. In addition, policies are needed to address affordability and knowledge gaps.
Africa’s Development Dynamics 2021 Digital Transformation for Quality Jobs
Title | Africa’s Development Dynamics 2021 Digital Transformation for Quality Jobs PDF eBook |
Author | African Union Commission |
Publisher | OECD Publishing |
Total Pages | 284 |
Release | 2021-01-19 |
Genre | |
ISBN | 926460653X |
Africa’s Development Dynamics uses lessons learned in the continent’s five regions – Central, East, North, Southern and West Africa – to develop policy recommendations and share good practices. Drawing on the most recent statistics, this analysis of development dynamics attempts to help African leaders reach the targets of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 at all levels: continental, regional, national and local.