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The telecommunications industry in Africa has exhibited tremendous development since the turn of the
century. This study analyzes production efficiency changes in the African telecommunications industry in
the period 2000 to 2009. Furthermore, an attempt is made to assess the determinants for such efficiency
changes. The results show that the industry has improved its productivity levels. However, most of the
productivity growth is resulted from technological advancement and less from technical efficiency.
Additionally, market competition and increasing subscriptions have also positively affected the sector’s
productivity. Hence, this study implies that African countries can further improve productivity in their
telecommunications sector by improving on technical efficiencies, increase outputs especially the
penetration of mobile telephony, and allow competition in the market with participation from international
network operators.