The Impact of Information and Communications Technology Infrastructure and Complementary Factors on Intra-African Trade

Abstract

Trade is one of the cornerstones of socio-economic development for Africa. Intra-continental trade stimulates productive capacity and competitiveness in nations through exposing domestic industries to competition. The purpose of this study was to investigate how information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure impacts on intra-African trade, taking into account other relevant factors that also influence trade such as Institutional Quality and Educational Attainment. Archival data about Telecommunications Infrastructure (a key indicator of ICT infrastructure), Institutional Quality and Educational Attainment and Trade Flows (Export and Import) from 28 African countries were used as empirical evidence. The research employed structural equation modeling with partial least squares to analyze data. The empirical analysis shows that the Telecommunications Infrastructure has a major impact on intra-African trade. Interacting factors such as Institutional Quality and Educational Attainment also play a role in influencing intra-African trade.

Keywords:

• Africa
• trade
• ICT infrastructure
• structural equation model

Notes on contributors

Felix Olu Bankole is Senior Lecturer and Coordinator of IT Infrastructure and Application Management Programme at the University of the Western Cape. He holds a PhD in Information Systems from the University of Cape Town. He is also a Research Associate at the Centre for IT and National Development in Africa (CITANDA) at the University of Cape Town. His current research interests are in the area of ICT and national development, Data Mining and Business Analytics.

Kweku-Muata Osei-Bryson is Professor of Information Systems at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA where he also served as the Coordinator of the IS PhD program during 2001-2003. Previously he was Professor of Information Systems & Decision Sciences at Howard University in Washington, DC. He has also worked as an Information Systems practitioner in industry and government. He holds a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics (Management Science & Information Systems) from the University of Maryland at College Park. His research areas include: Data Mining, Knowledge Management, IS Security, e-Commerce, IT for Development, Database Management, Decision Support Systems, IS Outsourcing, Multi-Criteria Decision Making. He has published in various leading journals including: Information Systems Journal, Knowledge Management Research & Practice, Decision Support Systems, Information Sciences, European Journal of Information Systems, Expert Systems with Applications, Information Systems Frontiers, Information & Management, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Journal of Information Technology for Development, Journal of Database Management, Expert Systems with Applications, Computers & Operations Research, Journal of the Operational Research Society, and the European Journal of Operational Research. He serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal on Computing, as a member of the Editorial Boards of the Computers & Operations Research journal and the Journal of Information Technology for Development, and as a member of the International Advisory Board of the Journal of the Operational Research Society.

Irwin Brown is a Professor in the Department of Information Systems (IS) at the University of Cape Town. Irwin's research interests relate to issues around IS in developing countries contexts. He has published in outlets such as the European Journal of Information Systems, Communications of the AIS, Journal of Global Information Technology Management, Journal of Global Information Management, the International Journal of Information Management and Electronic Journal of IS Evaluation.