Nationally representative surveys of ICT access and use by households and individuals in the public domain in 16 developing countries of the Global South

KENYA

1208

TANZANIA

1200

RWANDA

1211

MOZAMBIQUE

1171LESOTHO

2167

SOUTH AFRICA

1815

GHANA

1200

NIGERIA

1808

UGANDA

1864PAKISTAN

2002

INDIA

5069CAMBODIA

2123

BANGLADESH

2020

GUATEMALA

1517

ARGENTINA

1544

PERU

1544

PARAGUAY

1570

The quality and richness of what’s in [the #AfterAccess research] means they should be widely read and should have considerable potential impact. If policymakers are to make effective use of ICTs they need to know what’s

actually happening in their societies, rather than relying on a mix of old or unreliable data, hype and glib assumptions. They need surveys like these and they need to take account of what they say.

“ “

DAVID SOUTER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, ICT DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATES

#AfterAccess sample locations and sizes

ABOUT #AFTERACCESS

SENEGAL

1233

1539

COLOMBIA

ECUADOR

1500

NEPAL

2008

SRI LANKA

2017

THE INSIDE INTERNET STORY OF AFRICA, ASIA AND LATIN AMERICAMOBILE AND INTERNET USE IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH HAS NO ‘ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL’ APPROACH

#AfterAccess

A new demand-side body of research on mobile phone and Internet access and use in the

public domain

The Sample

Over 17,000 face-to-face interviews covering 26% of the Global South population in 16 countries across

Asia, Africa and Latin America. Asia captures insights for the population group 15-65 while Africa and Latin America Capture for 15 and above.

Why was the research done?

To gather strong evidence for policy-makers and

regulators

Regional and cross-regional comparisons are useful, especially with more similar conditions in emerging economies across the regions than within regions in some country cases. But analysis of outcomes in the local political and economic context is critical to identifying effective strategies to reduce digital inequality. Avoiding a ‘one-size-fits-all’ strategy for Internet, mobile device and mobile money policy will be key if the opportunity presented by these technologies is to be capitalised on by the Global South.

Gender Youth

Urban poor The future of work

WATCH THIS SPACEFOR MORE

Extensive price reductions

Complementary access (public Wi-Fi)

E-commerce engagement is extremely low,

particularly in Asia

Incidence of microwork is negligible in the African countries surveyed outside

of Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa

An unstable or non-existent power supply prevents large parts of the developing world from engaging in Internet-based education

or business

Development of relevant content

Meaningful support of indigenous start-ups and

apps developers

RECOMMENDATIONSStrategies for stimulating internet take-up alongside top-down supply-side strategies

OTHERISSUES

IDENTIFIED

THE #AFTERACCESS SURVEYS NOW

INCLUDE THESE COUNTRIES

- Lesotho*- Uganda- Senegal- Sri Lanka- Nepal- Ecuador

IN SUMMARY

Social media is a significant driver of Internet use in Latin America, Asia and Africa

*Lesotho was the initial After Access pilot surveyundertaken in 2016 with the support of ITU and Lesotho Communications Authority

Two-thirds of the population in Bangladesh have never heard of the Internet, although 72% have a mobile phone. In five of the seven African countries surveyed more than half of the population still use a basic mobile phone. In Latin America, while Internet and smartphone penetration is high, there are still important gender and urban-rural gaps.

The social, political, economic and developmental factors at play in these regions are complex. It is clear that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ global strategy and blanket policymaking for connectivity will not be successful.

THE FINDINGS

2. URBAN USE FAR OUTSTRIPS RURAL USE IN ALL THREE REGIONS

1. MOBILE OWNERSHIP AND INTERNET CONNECTIVITY IN AFRICA, ASIA AND LATIN AMERICA ARE WORLDS APART

Many people now own mobile phones, but just owning a mobile phone is not enough. Mobile penetration is relatively high across all three regions, but more than half of the respondents in five out of seven African countries use a basic phone with no Internet connectivity. In Latin America, on the other hand, there is relatively high smartphone ownership or featured phones with Internet connectivity. There are also significant variations within regions.

AS

IA

Of the 40% of Mozambicans who own a phone, 78% own a basic phone and

only 17% own smartphone. LAT

IN A

ME

RIC

AA

FR

ICA

LATIN AMERICA AFRICA ASIA

INDIA

29 55

16

61

PAKISTAN

5753

25

22

BANGLADESH

7440

37

24

CAMBODIA

42

10

48

68

NEPAL

7240

8

52

SRI LANKA

7846

7

47

COLOMBIA

30

609

75

ECUADOR

59

30

11

84

PARAGUAY

35

460

87

PERU

27

21

52 83

GUATEMALA

32

13

5586

ARGENTINA

15

11

75

87

MOZAMBIQUE

78

5

17

40

NIGERIA

30

46

24

64

GHANA

53

13

34

74

RWANDA

9

25

6648

SOUTH AFRICA

8

3656

84

TANZANIA

67

22

11 59

LESOTHO

79

SENEGAL

59

30

11

78

UGANDA

71

16

12 49

KENYA

59

14

28

87

MOBILE INSIGHTS

INTERNET LOCATION INSIGHTS

Mobile ownership Basic phone Feature phoneSmartphone

13% of Bangladeshis use the Internet

*Argentina not representative urban - rural sampling

Percentage of Internet users in rural areas Percentage of Internet users in urban Total national percentage of Internet usageInternet%

80

75

ARGENTINA*

PARAGUAY

COLOMBIA

PERU

GUATEMALA

SOUTH AFRICA

GHANA

NIGERIA RWANDA

TANZANIA40

67

53

76

67

86

58

66

39

61

5

32

KENYA

17

55

21

42

5

22

16

37

62

71

65

57

79

28 29

927

14

53

MOZAMBIQUE

LESOTHO

3

22

18

52

10

32

CAMBODIA

BANGLADESH

PAKISTAN

INDIA

SRI LANKA

NEPAL

14

27

31

51

11

19

16

18

35

45

17

13

19

37

34

36

26

38

The #AfterAccess data demonstrates that living in urban or rural areas which have greater coverage does not necessarily get populations online. Relying on aggregated figures alone masks the issues faced by both rural and urban populations who cannot exploit the potential of the service. Disaggregated data brings other issues to light which the #AfterAccess’s research will explore in more detail.

Peru and Paraguay show the highest urban-rural gaps in social media use in Latin America

3. THE GENDER GAP PERSISTS, ESPECIALLY IN AFRICA AND ASIA

The digital gender gap mirrors offline gender inequality. In India, 57% more men use the Internet than women and there is no quick fix. Education levels and their associated income are what drive women across the regions to adopt new services and technologies. Ensuring equitable access to education will result in greater employment opportunities and allow women to independently select the ICT products and services they need and desire.

ASIAAsian countries have significant gender gaps in all areas

AFRICARwanda has the lowest Internet penetration and greatest gender disparity

PAKISTAN

68

21

20

43

12

27

17% total Internet users

84

89

81

83

80

73

ECUADOR83% total Internet users

BANGLADESH

87

18

25

58

7

20

13% total Internet users

86

81

74

87

78

76

ARGENTINA79% total Internet users

85

58

62

89

55

57

PARAGUAY57% total Internet users

90

70

62

835548

GUATEMALA62% total Internet users

80

56

41

652748

NEPAL34% total Internet users

86

45

52

724230

SRI LANKA37% total Internet users

85

75

53

80

59

50

PERU65% total Internet users

76

70

60

75

71

61

COLOMBIA71% total Internet users

INTERNET GENDER INSIGHTS

78

45

52

62

30

46

CAMBODIA36% total Internet users

79

26

31

43

11

24

INDIA19% total Internet users

LATIN AMERICAPeru and Guatemala show the highest male-female gaps in Internet use

1

021

16

10

41

72

62

4237

65

5

41

1

30

7

3 35

24

40

29

51

29

BARRIERS TO INTERNET USE

LAT

INA

ME

RIC

A

I don’t know what the internet is

I don’t know how to use it

No access device (computer / smartphone)

Too expensive Other

www.afteraccess.net / @afteraccess

COLOMBIA

GUATEMALA

ARGENTINA

PERU

PARAGUAY ECUADOR

LAT

INA

ME

RIC

A

617

14 6 33

16

7

216

2011

32

36 28

28 6

26 45

525

24 48

26

15

25

19

0COLOMBIA

GUATEMALA

ARGENTINA

PERU

PARAGUAY ECUADOR

3611

AS

IA

3767

6421

69

7

9

679 10 1

23

19

5

941

3

1

43

2

820

15

12

1

14

37

INDIA

PAKISTAN

BANGLADESH

NEPAL

CAMBODIA

SRI LANKA

11 12

AF

RIC

A

27

53

51 13

23 13232

2 11316

0

01

43

40

921

43

22 76

13

36

64

44

33

11

15

22

14

12

3

1413

13

922

36

1021

13

19

40

21

SOUTH AFRICA

RWANDA MOZAMBIQUE

NIGERIA GHANA

KENYA

TANZANIA

LESOTHO

UGANDA

SENEGAL

50

BARRIERS TO MOBILE AND INTERNET INSIGHTS

Percentage of Internet users

Percentage of mobile users with a smartphone

Percentage of mobile owners

81

33

35

67

23

33

GHANA26% total Internet users

71

38

27

58

21

20

NIGERIA30% total Internet users

50

13

18

32

7

15

MOZAMBIQUE10% total Internet users

60

13

9

37

5

9

RWANDA8% total Internet users

92

32

31

83

22

24

KENYA26% total Internet users

64

16

24

54

11

20

TANZANIA14% total Internet users

83

57

60

85

50

52

SOUTH AFRICA50% total Internet users

80

36

78

31

LESOTHO32% total Internet users

81

35

34

74

23

27

SENEGAL31% total Internet users

58

16

16

40

12

18

UGANDA14% total Internet users

4. UNAFFORDABILITY AND LACK OF AWARENESS ARE KEY BARRIERS TO ADOPTION

Understanding why people are not online is as important as understanding the ways that people access and use the Internet. Unaffordability is the primary barrier to mobile and smartphone ownership in all three regions, and the absence of electricity is as big a challenge to overcome in parts of Asia and Africa as the lack of mobile coverage. Other barriers to Internet access and mobile phone ownership for the different regions may be accessed on the afteraccess.net website.

BARRIERS TO MOBILE OWNERSHIP

I cannot afford a mobile phone No mobile coverage where I live

No electricity at home to charge my mobile phone

I don’t know how to use it

23

11

9

59

13

1

2

44

37

1

6

17

51

28

40

18

1911

36

1919

27

67

5

19120

11 12

3569

28

29

32

43

1832

7

17

11

6

17

56

11

27

59

33

AF

RIC

AA

SIA

SOUTH AFRICA

RWANDA MOZAMBIQUE

NIGERIA GHANA

KENYA

TANZANIA

LESOTHO

UGANDA

SENEGAL

INDIA

PAKISTAN

BANGLADESH

NEPAL

CAMBODIA

SRI LANKA

58

43

29

72

56

66

45

78

72

65

1015

22

31