Telecommunications Services in Africa : The Impact of Multilateral Commitments and Unilateral Reform on Sector Performance and Economic Growth / World Trade Organization.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

World Trade Organization.

Series:

WTO Working Papers, 25189808 ; no.2006/10.

WTO Working Papers, 25189808 ; no.2006/10

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economic research and trade policy analysis.

Local Subjects:

Economic research and trade policy analysis.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (36 pages).

Place of Publication:

Geneva : World Trade Organization, 2006.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

This paper examines the impact of telecommunications liberalization in Africa on both sectoral performance and economic growth. Besides unilateral measures, we account for WTO commitments fostering the credibility of reforms. Actual regulatory quality plays a major role in bringing down prices and in improving access to telecommunication services in Africa. Competition, notably in the mobile telephony segment, also improves sector performance. Increasing access to mobile networks by 1 per cent translates into a 0.5 per cent increase in real GDP per capita. In Africa, multilateral commitments do not reflect recent reforms. However, at the global level, adherence to the WTO Reference Paper entails lower prices.

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.