“Everyone Will Be Connected”

Information and communication for development thinkers has come up with many plausible interventions that promise to improve the lives of underprivileged people in developing countries. The people that these interventions are meant for have not always benefited from these initiatives because they have limited ICT access due to its cost. There is therefore a need to improve universal access by enabling affordable access by the poor. This chapter, therefore, discusses free basics and how they can be used to improve affordable ICT access in order to facilitate ICT4D interventions in African countries. Since the use of free basics is not without controversy, a balanced analysis and an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of this initiative are provided. Social capital is used as the theoretical lens for evaluating the use of free basics for improving ICT access for those who cannot afford it. The chapter makes a case for the viability of using free basics through a discussion of case studies on how free basics have been used to empower underprivileged people, especially girls in Africa.