Mobile Internet Adoption in West Africa
Mobile broadband internet is the main technology through which individuals access the internet in developing countries. Understanding the barriers to broadband adoption is thus a priority in designing policies aiming to expand access and close the...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/878041614611542135/Mobile-Internet-Adoption-in-West-Africa http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35209 |
| Summary: | Mobile broadband internet is the main
technology through which individuals access the internet in
developing countries. Understanding the barriers to
broadband adoption is thus a priority in designing policies
aiming to expand access and close the digital divide across
socioeconomic groups and territories. This paper exploits
data from harmonized household expenditure surveys in seven
countries in West Africa in 2018/19—a subregion with one of
the lowest levels of mobile internet penetration in the
world—to identify the main factors that limit mobile
broadband internet adoption. Results show that low levels of
household consumption and prices of services are two key
constraints. One standard deviation increase in household
expenditure, about US$65 per capita per month, is associated
with a 6.5 percentage point rise in the probability of
adoption, while one standard deviation drop in the price of
mobile internet services, about US$3.60, increases the
probability of adoption by 2.4 percentage points. Other
determinants include demographic characteristics (sex, age,
language, urban location), socioeconomic features
(educational attainment, sector of employment), and other
factors linked to policy (access to electricity, ownership
of assets, alternative means of internet access). Results
are robust to specifications focusing only in areas with
mobile internet coverage (3G). |
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