Name of the Asset | Mobile Broadband Internet and Household Participation in Non-Farm Enterprises and Their Performance: Evidence from Nigeria
Type of Asset | Research
Date | January 2026
DOI | 10.69814/wp/2025102
SUMMARY
More than a third of people in Sub-Saharan Africa are believed to earn their living from non-farm businesses. While technological advancements are often associated with favorable business outcomes, it is unclear if this also applies to non-farm household enterprises, the vast majority of which are small-scale informal activities. This paper aims to address the question: Does the availability of mobile broadband internet encourage household participation in non-farm enterprises and improve their performance? I combine rich datasets from three waves of the Nigerian General Household Survey Panel (2010/11, 2012/13, and 2015/16) with mobile broadband coverage data. Using a difference-in-difference (DiD) strategy with multiple time periods and exploiting quasi-experimental variations in the staggered rollout of mobile broadband, I estimate both group-specific (early vs. late treated) and overall average effects of network coverage. The findings show that the availability of mobile broadband internet significantly increases households’ likelihood of owning non-farm enterprises. It also boosts the performance of such businesses, as measured by their employment and sales per worker. The impacts are more evident in early-treated groups than in late-treated ones. The event study (dynamic DiD) analysis results indicate that the effects build up with the length of households’ exposure to the treatment. The results are robust to alternative model specifications. Overall, the findings suggest that mobile broadband internet is crucial for promoting household engagement in (or livelihood diversification into) non-farm businesses and enhancing their success.
AUTHOR | Hailu Adugna
COUNTRY AND/OR REGION | Nigeria, Sub-Saharan Africa
PROGRAMME | Global Development Conference 2025: Call for Papers
