INVITATION: PhD Public Defense

The Dean, School of Economics under the College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS), cordially invites you to the PhD Public Defense of the following candidate:

Name of the Candidate: Faustino Byanyima

Title of Thesis:

THE EFFECT OF INTERNET USE ON DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS IN SELECTED SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN COUNTRIES

Date:  Wednesday, 20th November 2025.

Time:  9:00am-12:00pm

Venue:  CoBAMS Conference Hall at Makerere University

Supervisors:

1. Associate Professor John Bosco Nyanzi
2. Professor Bruno Lule Yawe

ABSTRACT

Sub-Saharan Africa has long faced persistently low educational attainment, poor health outcomes, and limited incomes, reflecting a significant development gap. This dissertation examines whether greater internet use can help improve these outcomes. It aims to evaluate the effect of internet use on development indicators by (i) assessing its effect on education attainment, (ii) analyzing its effect on life expectancy, and (iii) examining its effect on income per capita. The dissertation uses panel data from international sources such as UNESCO for literacy rates, ITU for internet use, and World Bank Development indicators for control variables. The first objective utilizes a common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG). The results show significant negative link between internet use and educational attainment, likely due to high disruptive potential. The control variables of institutional quality, pupil-teacher ratio, and the GDP share of agriculture have positive effects. The second objective employs full information maximum likelihood (FIML) and results indicate that internet use has a clear positive effect on life expectancy, likely because better connectivity expands access to health information, telemedicine, and knowledge of healthy practices. Education, institutional quality, and urbanization also have significant positive effects, whereas disease incidence has a significant negative effect. The third objective also adopts FIML and its results reveal that internet use affects income growth indirectly via internet-driven improvements in health. These findings lead to important policy recommendations: governments should promote digital inclusion while investing in complementary sectors like education and healthcare to ensure connectivity translates into higher literacy, longer lives, and economic growth. Initiatives to bridge digital disparities and strengthen institutions are vital so that all communities can share in the benefits of internet-enabled development.

Your presence and participation will be highly appreciated as we support the student in this important academic milestone.