REGULATION, COMPETITION AND PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN THE AFRICAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY

The telecommunications industry in Africa has exhibited tremendous development since the turn of the century. This study analyzes production efficiency changes in the African telecommunications industry in the period 2000 to 2009. Furthermore, an attempt is made to assess the determinants for such efficiency changes. The results show that the industry has improved its productivity levels. However, most of the productivity growth is resulted from technological advancement and less from technical efficiency. Additionally, market competition and increasing subscriptions have also positively affected the sector’s productivity. Hence, this study implies that African countries can further improve productivity in their telecommunications sector by improving on technical efficiencies, increase outputs especially the penetration of mobile telephony, and allow competition in the market with participation from international network operators