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Mobile Phone Innovation and Inclusive Human Development: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Simplice Asongu

    (Yaoundé/Cameroun)

  • Agyenim Boateng

    (Glasgow, UK)

  • Raphael Akamavi

    (Hull, UK)

Abstract

A recent World Bank report reveals that poverty has been decreasing in all regions of the world with the exception of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as more than 45% of countries in the sub-region are off-track from achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) extreme poverty target. This paper investigates the effects of mobile phone technology, knowledge creation and diffusion on inclusive human development in 49 SSA countries for the period 2000-2012 using Tobit model. The study finds that mobile phone penetration in SSA is pivotal to sustainable and inclusive human development irrespective of the country’s level of income, legal origins, religious orientation and the state of the nation. However, the pupil-teacher ratio exerts a negative influence on inclusive human development. The net effects of interactions between the mobile phone and knowledge diffusion variables are positive.

Suggested Citation

  • Simplice Asongu & Agyenim Boateng & Raphael Akamavi, 2016. "Mobile Phone Innovation and Inclusive Human Development: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 16/027, African Governance and Development Institute..
    • Handle: RePEc:agd:wpaper:16/027
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    1. Asongu, Simplice A. & Nwachukwu, Jacinta C., 2018. "Educational quality thresholds in the diffusion of knowledge with mobile phones for inclusive human development in sub-Saharan Africa," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 164-172.
    2. Efobi, Uchenna & Tanankem, Belmondo & Asongu, Simplice, 2016. "Technological Advancement and the Evolving Gender Identities: A Focus on the Level of Female Economic Participation in Sub-Saharan Africa," MPRA Paper 77306, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Asongu, Simplice A. & Le Roux, Sara, 2017. "Enhancing ICT for inclusive human development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 44-54.
    4. Asongu, Simplice A. & Nwachukwu, Jacinta C. & Orim, Stella-Maris I., 2018. "Mobile phones, institutional quality and entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 183-203.
    5. Ahmad Hassan Ahmad & Christopher Green & Fei Jiang, 2020. "Mobile Money, Financial Inclusion And Development: A Review With Reference To African Experience," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(4), pages 753-792, September.
    6. Simplice Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2016. "Mobile Phones in the Diffusion of Knowledge and Persistence in Inclusive Human Development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 16/009, African Governance and Development Institute..
    7. Dominic E. Azuh & Jeremiah O. Ejemeyovwi & Queen Adiat & Babatunde A. Ayanda, 2020. "Innovation and Human Development Perspectives in West Africa," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, December.
    8. Keraga, Mezid N. & Stephan, Andreas, 2023. "Does innovation stimulate employment in Africa? New firm-level evidence from the Worldbank Enterprise Survey," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 494, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mobile phones; inclusive human development; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

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