Basic formal education quality, information technology, and inclusive human development in sub‐Saharan Africa

Abstract This study assesses the role played by basic formal education on the impact of information technology on inclusive human development in sub‐Saharan African countries during the period 2000–2012. The study aims to answer one critical question: What is the relevance of basic formal education in the effect of mobile phone penetration on inclusive human development in sub‐Saharan Africa when initial levels of inclusive human development are taken into account? The empirical evidence is based on instrumental quantile regressions. The findings of this study show that poor primary education dampens the positive effect of mobile phone penetration on inclusive human development. This finding should be understood from the perspective that the education quality indicator represents a policy syndrome because of the way it is computed, notably, the ratio of pupils to teachers. Hence, an increasing ratio indicates decreasing quality of education. It follows that decreasing quality of education dampens the positive effect of mobile phone on inclusive development. This tendency is consistent throughout the conditional distribution of inclusive sustainable human development. Policy implications are discussed.