Interregional and Intercountry Analysis of Mobile Internet Connectivity in Sub-Saharan Africa

In recent years, sub-Saharan Africa has experienced rapid growth in some of the factors that determine Internet connectivity, such as 4G coverage and low-cost handsets that allow Internet access. The first part of the chapter seeks to determine if this progress has altered the region’s status in comparison with others. What emerged, however, was that there was only one determinant, digital skills, where sub-Sahara appeared alongside one of the leading regions. In the second part, I turned to examine positive country outliers within the region, in order to glean possible lessons for other countries. As in earlier chapters, the analysis was conducted with reference to income, digital skills, affordability, and other determinants of connectivity. In broad terms, the outcome was that while income played a major explanatory role, there were also low-income countries that appeared in the relevant leading group. These were often cases where governments had long paid close attention to matters of technology and digital technology (such as Rwanda, for example). Most African governments, on the other hand, have paid scant attention to digital technology or digital skills. Their concern has been, rather, with gaining access to such technology.