An assessment of social and economic factors for broadband penetration in Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)

The transformative benefits of broadband on economic and social variables have led governments to set ambitious targets for its deployment. In making a case for public policy on broadband, many studies have sought to identify and measure broadband economic benefits. Such benefits have not been fully realized in Third World economiesIn an increasingly integrated global economy, broadband is central in providing economic growth and competitiveness to any organisation, country or region. In spite of this competitive advantage of broadband, in the last four years Africa had mobile cellular penetration of 63% and penetration rate flattened at 5.2%. Social and economic factors have been cited as major contributors to this undesirable phenomenon. This papers assays to identify these factors, rank them and suggest possible remedies in the context of Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). The main research question this paper attempts to answer therefore is: how can broadband penetration within SADC region be improved?A confirmatory factors Analysis (CFA) was used to ascertain the conformity of these factors as obtained from raw data to what is given by literature. The weighting of these factors and policy interventions were then discussed as possible solutions for decision makers within the region.