The digital divide in Africa

Half of the world’s population has never made or received a phone call and perhaps the same half lives on less than $2 a day. If this is not just a statistical coincidence, is there causality between the lack of telecommunication and poverty? The digital divide is the discrepancy between Africa and other nations in the usage of ICT’s, such as telephony and the internet. The goal of this book, is to highlight “which factors influence a nation’s capacity to bridge the Digital Divide”. It will give an elaborate introduction to the Digital Divide and the concepts Information Society and Information Revolution. And the book will answer the question why some African countries have more ICT’s than others, even though they are not necessarily richer. The author, Emlyn Hagen, researches a range of cultural, economic, political and geographical factors by means of an econometrical analysis. The data spans all 54 independent African countries, over a 12-year period, and contains information about a wide array of factors such a GDP per capita, the amount of telephone lines, language, the level of freedom and foreign investments. The study reflects that foreign ICT investors will venture even into the poorest and difficult accessible nations if the political climate and regulatory climate allows it. This book will give social and economic scientists an introduction to the African telecom situation, and will provide telecom industry and policy decision makers with a better insight in solving the digital divide.