Telecommunications and Economic
Development:
Empirical Evidence from Southern Africa

by

James Alleman
Carl Hunt
Donald Michaels
Milton Mueller
Paul Rappoport
Lester Taylor

2

International Telecommunications Society

•

Sydney

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Executive Summary1-5
1.1 Methodology / Economic Analysis
1-2
1.2 Reasons for Under-Investment in the Telecommunications Sector
1.3 Conclusions
1-3
2 Overview
2-1
2.1 Introduction
2-1
2.2 Purpose of this Paper 2-1
3 Methodology
3-1
3.1 Literature Review
3-1
3.1.1 Macroeconomic statistical studies
3.1.2 Policy Implications 3-6

3-3

4 Data 4-1
4.1 Data Deficiencies for Southern Africa 4-1
4.2 Data Problems 4-2
4.3 Limited data
4-2
5 Results
5-1
5.1 GDP and Telephone penetration

5-2

6 Conclusions Error! Bookmark not defined.
7 Selected Bibliography and References

7-1

1-2

4

International Telecommunications Society

•

Sydney

"... telecommunications policies affect not only telecommunications..., but also the economic development... and social, cultural and political growth." Pekka Tarjanne1

1

Executive Summary

2

Many countries in the developing world must decide how to best allocate scarce resources for improved economic development. An ITU study of telecommunications and development, The Missing Link, concluded that
"telecommunications can increase the efficiency of economic, commercial, and administrative activities, improve the effectiveness of social and emergency services and distribute the social, cultural and economic benefits of the process of development more equitably throughout the country." Although it is recognized as an essential catalyst for growth, however, improved telecommunications generally has not been a central investment focus for developing countries3.
The Southern African Development Countries