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INFORMATION & COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY (ICT)
Across the African continent information communication technologies (ICT) continue to be hailed as the drivers of economic growth and development. However, despite the success of mobile communications in the last decade, there is limited and uneven evidence of its contribution to growth and development, unlike OECD economies. Levels of access to modern telecommunications, network capabilities and coverage, as well as investments in the sector, are as diverse as the 53 member states of the African Union.
One of the reasons for this is that the necessary reform of telecommunications’ markets, essential to the development and incorporation of ICTs into the economy, has been very uneven, producing mixed outcomes. Despite rhetorical and sometimes even legal commitments to securing the development of the sector through private sector participation, the introduction of competition has been limited and many markets have not been restructured fundamentally to realize the positive outcomes for consumers and users associated with competitive markets. As a result, despite the exponential growth of mobile services, performance has been sub-optimal: the critical mass of about 40% penetration at which the positive network effects associated with economic growth are believed to kick in, has not been reached in most markets.
Across the African continent information communication technologies (ICT) continue to be hailed as the drivers of economic growth and development. However, despite the success of mobile communications in the last decade, there is limited and uneven evidence of its contribution to growth and development, unlike OECD economies. Levels of access to modern telecommunications, network capabilities and coverage, as well as investments in the sector, are as diverse as the 53 member states of the African Union.
One of the reasons for this is that the necessary reform of telecommunications’ markets, essential to the development and incorporation of ICTs into the economy, has been very uneven, producing mixed outcomes. Despite rhetorical and sometimes even legal commitments to securing the development of the sector through private sector participation, the introduction of competition has been limited and many markets have not been restructured fundamentally to realize the positive outcomes for consumers and users associated with competitive markets. As a result, despite the exponential growth of mobile services, performance has been sub-optimal: the critical mass of about 40% penetration at which the positive network effects associated with economic growth are believed to kick in, has not been reached in most markets.
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