Impediments to the implementation of universal service funds in Africa - A cross-country comparative analysis

We seek to answer this question by investigating the interplay between market liberalisation and universal service using a multiple case study approach with examples drawn from across the continent. We find that poor policy formulation limits the implementation of an effective USF model in Africa. In addition, inadequate stakeholder engagement, lack of accountability, inaccurate data, undue political influence and the narrow scope of universal service all impinge on the ability of USF to achieve their objectives. We, therefore, propose the need for future research to address these challenges and develop our framework to unravel some of the intractable areas of universal service such as determining what services should fall within the scope of universal service and how to prevent policy redundancy in a fast moving industry such as mobile telecommunications.