Comparing the situation in the UK to the situation in Nigeria takes a good deal of study. In the UK, infrastructure generally exists and if some company invests

Comparing the situation in the UK to the situation in Nigeria takes a good deal of study. In the UK, infrastructure generally exists and if some company invests in new infrastructure, paying for it is just a simple matter of time and attracting customers. In Nigeria, it's different. If some company invests in installing new infrastructure like copper or fiber, it gets stolen. This also happens in the UK and the US, but to a far lesser degree, and the damages are typically covered by insurance. No insurance company is crazy enough to insure infrastructure investments in Nigeria due to the very high probability that all the expensive wires, fibers and equipment will be stolen and sold for scrap. It's not just communications infrastructure, the problem of theft also occurs with power infrastructure. Nearly every country has a problem with theft of valuable copper power lines, but in many parts of Africa, the problem is a lot worse. In Nigeria, it results in an unreliable power grid so running computers which are not battery backed (UPS backed systems or battery powered laptop/tablet/phone) is a dodgy proposition. As for why infrastructure theft occurs everywhere, blame greed. As for why it happens more often in some places, the answer is economic disparity. Just imagine how tempting it would be to steal wires where you live if you knew those wires were made of gold. Considering the difference between your earning potential at a job, and the earning potential of jobs for people in other places, gold power lines is roughly equivalent. You see, all the rules change when you have to worry about crazy, desperate thieves cutting down live power lines in your neighborhood. The other side is, of course, adoption rates and government regulations. Japan is an excellent example of high adoption rates propelling mobile data networks, and sane governance enabling advancements.