Information and communication technologies and economic development in Africa in the short and long run

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and economic development in Africa for the period 2001–15 using Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS) and panel Granger analysis, which accounts for cross-sectional dependence. The empirical results show that ICTs have significant positive effects on economic development. Similarly, the results show that ICTs lead to economic development and economic development also leads to greater investment in ICTs both in the short and in the long run. ICTs therefore play significant roles in economic development and in turn economic development plays significant roles in the expansion of ICTs in Africa both in the short and in the long run. The study concludes that the rapid growth of mobile telephony and Internet penetration in Africa can be used to promote the needed economic development in the continent not only in the short run but also in the long run.