The Impact of ICT Use on Trade Openness in Sub-Saharan African Countries
Abstract
This study uses panel data for 48 sub-Sahara Africa countries, ranging from the year 2000 to
2020, to empirically examine the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
use and adoption (internet use) on trade openness, employing quantile regression analysis.
The study controlled Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), access to finance, capital formation and
inflation rate in the quantile regression. The study findings demonstrate that internet use (i.e.,
ICT) has a positive and statistically significant impact on trade openness in sub-Saharan
African countries, as evidenced in the majority of quantiles (30th, 40th, 50th, 60th, 70th, 80th,
and 90th). This implies that an increase in internet use has resulted to positive trade openness
in the region. Furthermore, results of the study also reveal that capital formation and Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) have positive statistically significant impact on trade openness at all
quantiles while access to finance (domestic credit to private sector) and inflation has
heterogeneous effect on trade openness in sub-Saharan African countries. We recommend sub-Saharan African countries to increase internet users and penetration to influence the use of
ICT technologies (electronic mail, telephones) on trade activities.