WBG support increases mobile penetration

TIRANA, Aug. 17 – A new study by the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) of the World Bank Group (WBG) shows that the Bank Group was effective in promoting sector reforms for information and communication technologies (ICT) and in promoting access through private investments for mobile communications in difficult environments.
“In Albania, mobile penetration increased from 35 percent of the population to over 100 percent from the time IFC’s investment in Albania’s second-largest mobile operator in 2003 to 2009. With 97 percent geographic coverage, the poor and those in rural areas have likely benefited from increased access to mobile telephony, driven purely by market forces,” says the study.
The study indicates that countries with WBG support for policy reform and investments have increased competition and access faster than countries without such support.
The WBG has supported ICT through lending, policy advice, investments, advisory services, and political risk guarantees in the past decade, committing a total of $4.2 billion in assistance to the sector between fiscal years 2003 and 2010, of which about $2.9 billion was to the poorest countries. In this period, by volume of operations, most of the Bank Group funding in the ICT sector has focused on fostering private sector investment.