**Table 2. Infrastructure quantity trends**

|||SSA|SA|**Region**<br>MENA|LAC|EAP|LIC|**Income**<br>LMC|UMC|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Telecommunications**||||||||||
|Telecommunication Density|1990|3|7|38|55|17|3|5|55|
|_Fixed and mobile telephonesper 1,000people(median)_|2014|736|807|1,323|1,240|1,444|687|794|1605|
|Internet Density|2005|1.3|2.1|11.2|12|11.8|1.1|1.3|7.5|
|_Number of usersper 100people(median)_|2015|16.7|22|48.5|51.6|45|11.4|20.8|50.1|
|Fixed broadband|2005|0.0|0.1|0.4|0.8|1.4|0.0|0.0|0.3|
|_Number of subscriptionsper 100people(median)_|2015|0.2|1.2|4.3|8.1|9.1|0.2|0.1|5.3|
|**Power**||||||||||
|Electricity generating capacity|1990|0.03|0.07|0.25|0.3|0.15|0.02|0.06|0.33|
|_Megawattsper 1,000people(median)_|2012|0.04|0.15|0.4|0.43|0.84|0.03|0.06|0.72|
|**Transport**||||||||||
|Road Density|1990|0.11|0.31|0.11|0.13|0.16|0.09|0.12|0.27|
|_km of roadper sq km of land area(median)_|2011|0.09|0.48|0.14|0.19|0.47|0.09|0.08|1.04|
|Railroad Density|1990|0.004|0.021|0.005|0.003|0.006|0.005|0.002|0.010|
|_km of roadper sq km of land area(median)_|2014|0.002|0.016|0.006|0.007|0.007|0.003|0.002|0.010|

_Sources: International Telecommunications Union's World Telecommunication/ICT indicators; World Bank, World Development indicators. International Energy Agency; World Energy Outlook; International Road Federation, World Road statistics Note: EAP= East Asia and Pacific; LAC= Latin America and the Caribbean; MENA= Middle East and North Africa; SA= South Asia; SSA= Sub-Saharan Africa; LIC=low-income countries; LMC= lower-middle income countries; UMC= upper-middle income countries._ Internet density has risen sharply over the past two decades for all income groups in Sub-Saharan Africa. For instance, the number of Internet users increased from 1.1 per 100 people in 2005, to about 11.4 in 2015 among LICs, while it grew from 7.5 to 50.1 for UMCs. Fast growth of Internet density among LICs and LMCs in the region has narrowed their gap relative to UMCs. Finally, the extent of Internet density among Sub-Saharan Africa’s UMCs is above the regional median of countries in East Asia and the Pacific (45.5 users per 100 people).

The density of fixed broadband subscriptions is dismal for virtually all income groups in Sub-Saharan Africa. Notwithstanding the low penetration, there is a very large gap between the region’s LICs and LMCs relative to UMCs. At the same time, the density of fixed broadband across UMCs (5.25 subscriptions per 100 people) is lower than that of Latin America and East Asia (8.1 and 9.1 subscriptions per 100 people, respectively).

_Electric Power_ . Sub-Saharan Africa was vastly outperformed by the other benchmark developing regions in the power sector in 2012. The electricity-generating capacity of the region has changed little in over 20 years and is about 0.04 megawatts (MW) per 1,000 people—that is, less than a third of that of South Asia (with 0.15) and less than one-tenth of that of Latin America and the Caribbean (Table 2). Among the regions studied, East Asia and the Pacific registered the fastest growth in power generating capacity over the past two decades— jumping from 0.15 MW per 1,000 people in 1990 to 0.84.

Insufficient electricity power–generating capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa is explained by the trends observed in LICs and LMCs. There has been slight or no progress of MW of installed capacity per 1,000 people over the past two decades for these groups of countries; that is, keeping capacity at a low 0.03 and 0.06 MW _Infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa - 5_