Despite significant progress in mobile connectivity, a large number of individuals in Sub-Saharan Africa are at risk of being left behind, especially those living in rural areas and women. In this paper, we use an original data set of mobile call detail records from Senegal and exploit variations across plausibly similar rural municipalities to assess the impact of access to electricity on mobile connectivity. We find that access to mobile connectivity for rural users, measured by mobile telephony subscriptions or smartphone ownership, increases with access to electricity, with a stronger impact for women. The impact on usage is also positive, but stems from the increased volume of incoming communications: rural mobile users with access to electricity do not place more calls than those with limited access; rather, they receive more calls and text messages from urban areas, especially those with higher living standards. These findings suggest that access to electricity can be a significant driver of digital inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa.

尽管在移动连接方面取得了重大进展，但撒哈拉以南非洲的许多人仍面临被抛在后面的风险，尤其是那些生活在农村地区的人和妇女。在本文中，我们使用来自塞内加尔的移动呼叫详细记录的原始数据集，并利用看似相似的农村城市之间的差异来评估获得电力对移动连接的影响。我们发现，通过移动电话订阅或智能手机拥有量衡量，农村用户获得移动连接的机会随着电力供应的增加而增加，对女性的影响更大。对使用的影响也是积极的，但源于传入通信量的增加：有电的农村移动用户拨打的电话并不多于接入受限的用户；相当，他们接到更多来自城市地区的电话和短信，尤其是生活水平较高的地区。这些调查结果表明，获得电力可能是撒哈拉以南非洲数字包容性的重要驱动因素。