Measuring Internet Access in Sub-Saharan Africa

Measuring Internet Access in Sub-Saharan Africa

The ability to access the internet has increasingly become an important tool for poverty reduction, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite its importance, measuring internet use in low-income settings is plagued by differences between dat...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Frankfurter, Zoe, Kokoszka, Klaudia, Newhouse, David, Silwal, Ani Rudra, Tian, Siwei
Format: Brief
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2020
Subjects:
POVERTY MEASUREMENT
INTERNET ACCESS
HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS
INTERNET CONNECTION
MOBILE PHONE
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
BROADBAND
HOME COMPUTER
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/121531596521881138/Measuring-Internet-in-Access-in-Sub-Saharan-Africa-SSA
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34302
id okr-10986-34302
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-343022021-05-25T10:54:39Z Measuring Internet Access in Sub-Saharan Africa Frankfurter, Zoe Kokoszka, Klaudia Newhouse, David Silwal, Ani Rudra Tian, Siwei POVERTY MEASUREMENT INTERNET ACCESS HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS INTERNET CONNECTION MOBILE PHONE TELECOMMUNICATIONS BROADBAND HOME COMPUTER The ability to access the internet has increasingly become an important tool for poverty reduction, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite its importance, measuring internet use in low-income settings is plagued by differences between data sources and lack of a consistent definition of what it means exactly to have internet access. This Note compares different data sources available for monitoring internet use in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and examines a database of household surveys from 25 countries in the region. Three main findings emerge: (a) Household internet access may be less prevalent than commonly believed, (b) Access rates are particularly low for rural and poorer households, and (c) Many people in SSA access the internet through mobile phones rather than a home computer. Although many questions remain unanswered, household surveys are an important and underutilized resource to inform efforts to expand internet access in SSA. 2020-08-10T14:59:59Z 2020-08-10T14:59:59Z 2020-08 Brief http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/121531596521881138/Measuring-Internet-in-Access-in-Sub-Saharan-Africa-SSA http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34302 English Poverty and Equity Notes;No. 31 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Brief Africa Sub-Saharan Africa
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic POVERTY MEASUREMENT
INTERNET ACCESS
HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS
INTERNET CONNECTION
MOBILE PHONE
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
BROADBAND
HOME COMPUTER
spellingShingle POVERTY MEASUREMENT
INTERNET ACCESS
HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS
INTERNET CONNECTION
MOBILE PHONE
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
BROADBAND
HOME COMPUTER
Frankfurter, Zoe
Kokoszka, Klaudia
Newhouse, David
Silwal, Ani Rudra
Tian, Siwei
Measuring Internet Access in Sub-Saharan Africa
geographic_facet Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
relation Poverty and Equity Notes;No. 31
description The ability to access the internet has increasingly become an important tool for poverty reduction, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite its importance, measuring internet use in low-income settings is plagued by differences between data sources and lack of a consistent definition of what it means exactly to have internet access. This Note compares different data sources available for monitoring internet use in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and examines a database of household surveys from 25 countries in the region. Three main findings emerge: (a) Household internet access may be less prevalent than commonly believed, (b) Access rates are particularly low for rural and poorer households, and (c) Many people in SSA access the internet through mobile phones rather than a home computer. Although many questions remain unanswered, household surveys are an important and underutilized resource to inform efforts to expand internet access in SSA.
format Brief
author Frankfurter, Zoe
Kokoszka, Klaudia
Newhouse, David
Silwal, Ani Rudra
Tian, Siwei
author_facet Frankfurter, Zoe
Kokoszka, Klaudia
Newhouse, David
Silwal, Ani Rudra
Tian, Siwei
author_sort Frankfurter, Zoe
title Measuring Internet Access in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_short Measuring Internet Access in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_full Measuring Internet Access in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_fullStr Measuring Internet Access in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_full_unstemmed Measuring Internet Access in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_sort measuring internet access in sub-saharan africa
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2020
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/121531596521881138/Measuring-Internet-in-Access-in-Sub-Saharan-Africa-SSA
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34302
_version_ 1764480613192040448

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