Infrastructure and the MDGs

Abstract

The only infrastructure sectors formally covered by the MDGs are W&S and the access to phone services. With respect to access to phone services, the progress in terms of fixed telephone lines has been slow between 1990 and 2011, with only nine countries registering significant increases in their numbers. This is, however, linked to the rapid adoption of mobile telephony by the population, and it has proven to be good for both growth and the poor. Technological innovation in the use of cellular phones has exploded as seen in money transfers, mobile banking, and bill payments.