Africa

Internet users are individuals who have used the Internet (from any location) in the last 3 months. The Internet can be used via a computer, mobile phone, personal digital assistant, games machine, digital TV etc.

Fixed telephone subscriptions refers to the sum of active number of analogue fixed telephone lines, voice-over-IP (VoIP) subscriptions, fixed wireless local loop (WLL) subscriptions, ISDN voice-channel equivalents and fixed public payphones.

Mobile cellular telephone subscriptions are subscriptions to a public mobile telephone service that provide access to the PSTN using cellular technology. The indicator includes (and is split into) the number of postpaid subscriptions, and the number of active prepaid accounts (i.e. that have been used during the last three months). The indicator applies to all mobile cellular subscriptions that offer voice communications. It excludes subscriptions via data cards or USB modems, subscriptions to public mobile data services, private trunked mobile radio, telepoint, radio paging and telemetry services.

Fixed broadband subscriptions refers to fixed subscriptions to high-speed access to the public Internet (a TCP/IP connection), at downstream speeds equal to, or greater than, 256 kbit/s. This includes cable modem, DSL, fiber-to-the-home/building, other fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions, satellite broadband and terrestrial fixed wireless broadband. This total is measured irrespective of the method of payment. It excludes subscriptions that have access to data communications (including the Internet) via mobile-cellular networks. It should include fixed WiMAX and any other fixed wireless technologies. It includes both residential subscriptions and subscriptions for organizations.

Mobile broadband subscriptions are mobile subscriptions that advertise data speeds of 256 kbit/s or greater. The subscription must allow access to the Internet via HTTP and must have been used to make a data connection via Internet Protocol (IP) in the previous three months. Standard SMS and MMS messaging do not count as an active Internet data connection even if they are delivered via IP.

The African Development Corridors Database (ADCD) is a comprehensive, georeferenced database detailing 79 ongoing and planned investment corridors across Africa, synthesizing data on 184 specific infrastructure projects (railways, ports, pipelines, airports, techno-cities, and industrial parks). Its purpose is to allow for critical assessment of the spatial and temporal impacts of massive infrastructure investments to maximize development opportunities and support the UN Sustainable Development Goals and AU Agenda 2063. The database includes 22 interlinked tabular and spatial attributes with provided sources, which is expected to improve coordination, efficiency, strategic planning, transparency, and impact assessments for governments, investment banks, practitioners, and conservationists, among other stakeholders.

The African Development Corridors published by Thorn, J.P.R., Bignoli, D.J., Mwangi, B. et al. The African Development Corridors Database: a new tool to assess the impacts of infrastructure investments. Sci Data 9, 679 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01771-y have been buffered according to the level of intervention (Major road: 15 km, Passenger and freight railway: 10 km, Railway: 5 km, Pipeline: 2,5km). Data obtained was intersected with the country boundaries and with protected areas (WDPA, February 2023 version) obtaining the percentage of PA coverage of corridors in each country.