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GLOBAL DIFFUSION OF THE INTERNET IV: THE INTERNET IN GHANA
 Ghana was one of the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa to gain Internet
access. By 1996, three Internet service providers (ISPs) were competing. During
the Internet boom years, 1998-2000, the ISP and Internet Café industries in
Ghana grew rapidly.
In 2004, policy-makers are struggling with the question of how to fund
telecommunications deployment in rural Ghana. The question is urgent because
use of Voice over IP (VoIP) technology for international voice calls ate away at
Ghana Telecom’s profits; profits the company says it desperately needs to fund
deployment of a new telephone network.
We use the Global Diffusion of the Internet (GDI) framework to examine Internet
diffusion in Ghana along six dimensions: Pervasiveness, Geographical
Dispersion, Sectoral Absorption, Connectivity Infrastructure, Organizational
Infrastructure, and Sophistication of Use. As shown by this analysis, Internet
diffusion in Ghana did not evolve along these six dimensions since 2000. To
reinvigorate Internet diffusion, we suggest the Ghanaian government allow some
ISPs to operate in the rural VoIP and cellular markets on the condition they invest
their profits and use their expertise to build infrastructure in underserved areas.
The Ghana ISP Association (GISPA) should take the lead in building a national
backbone with Internet exchange.
----------------------------------- William Foster, Seymour Goodman, Eric Osiakwan, Adam Bernstein -2004
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