Telecommunications Services in Africa: The Impact of WTO Commitments and Unilateral Reform on Sector Performance and Economic Growth

SummaryWe examine the impact of telecommunications liberalization in Africa on sectoral performance and economic growth. Besides unilateral measures, we account for WTO commitments fostering the credibility of reforms. Regulatory quality plays a major role in bringing down prices and improving access to telecommunications services in Africa. Competition, notably in the mobile segment, also improves sector performance. Increasing access to mobile networks by 1% translates into a 0.5% increase in real GDP per capita. In Africa, multilateral commitments do not reflect recent reforms. However, globally, adherence to the GATS Reference Paper is associated with lower prices.