The prospects of digital infrastructure in promoting rural economic growth and development are by and large immense. The paper found that rural development is considerably important for economic development and for achievement of sustainable livelihoods that increases people’s ability to achieve good health and wellbeing that enable the achievement of sustainable development. The paper found that digital imbalance and digital illiteracy in the rural areas hinder implementation of digital infrastructure to lead to rural economic growth. Digital infrastructure is the source of economic opportunities that enables local people in the rural areas to be more creative in achieving development success. It enables them to have a unique sense of place and fashioning of vibrant economic and financial opportunities that ensure the achievement of sustainable rural economic development. However, the paper found that the application of digital infrastructure to South Africa’s rural areas in the bid to promote rural economic growth has been hindered by factors like the digital divide, financial constraints, digital illiteracy and the failure to own a smart phone. These factors hinder digital infrastructure from leading to sustainable rural economic development and growth. The paper used secondary data gathered from existing literature. The use of qualitative research methodology and document and content analysis techniques became vital in the process of collecting and analyzing collected data.

Agrawal, A., Gans, J., Goldfarb, A. (2018). Prediction Machines: The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence. Harvard Business Press, Boston.

Akşan, E., Baki, A. (2017). Content analysis of curriculum-related studies in Turkey between 2000 and 2014. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 17, 877–904.

Athique, A. (2019). A great leap of faith: The cashless agenda in Digital India. New Media & Society, 21(8), 1697–1713. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444819829336

Atkinson C. (2017). Rural Development. Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1014-1.

Atkinson, R. D., & Castro, D. (2023). Digital divides: The new challenges and opportunities of digital transformation.

Australian Government (2023). Telemedicine in Rural Areas: A Report.

Banu, A. (2017). Digital India: A program to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. Adarsh Journal of Management Research.

Baoping, R., Haifeng, H. Spatial Distribution and Characteristics of China’s Digital Economy Development. Journal of Statistics and Information, 2023, 38(8).

Bates, T. (2015). Teaching in a digital age: Guidelines for designing teaching and learning. Tony Bates Associates Ltd.

Baxter, P., Jack, S. (2008). Qualitative Case Study Methodology: Study Design and Implementation for Novice Researchers. The Qualitative Report Volume 13 Number 4 December 2008 544-559 http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR13-4/baxter.pdf.

Bayarcelik, E. B., & Taşel, F. (2012). Research and development: Source of economic growth. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 58, 744-753. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.09.1052

Bernard, A. B., & Jones, C. I. (1996). Productivity across industries and countries: Time series theory and evidence. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 78(1), 135–146. https://doi.org/10.2307/2109853

Blake, A., Sinclair, M. T., & Soria, J. A. C. (2006). Tourism productivity: evidence from the United Kingdom. Annals of Tourism Research, 33(4), 1099-1120.

Bloomberg, L. D., & Volpe, M. (2022). Completing your qualitative dissertation: A road map from beginning to end. SAGE.

Bonomo, J. P., and McDonough, P. C. (2020). Rural broadband and economic development: Evidence and insights from the United States

Boslaugh, S. (2007). Secondary analysis for public health: A practical guide. New York, NY: Cambridge.

Bowen, G. A. (2008). Naturalistic inquiry and the saturation concept: A research note. Qualitative Research, 8(1), 137–152.

Burch, S. K. (2001). The impact of the internet on rural communities. Routledge.

Chang, L. (2023). The rural digital divide: Evaluating the economic impact of high-cost digital infrastructure projects. Harvard Business Review.

Cirera, X., & Maloney, W. F. (2017). The innovation paradox,” World Bank Publications - Books. The World Bank Group, No. 28341.

Coombs, H. (2022). Case study research: single or multiple [White paper]. Southern Utah University. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7604301.

Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. SAGE.

Creswell, J.W., (2013). Steps in conducting a scholarly mixed methods study.

Crowe, S., Cresswell, K., Robertson, A., et al. (2011). The case study approach. BMC medical research methodology, 11, 100.

Ding J. (2024). The Impact Of The Digital Economy And New Infrastructure On China’s Economic Development. Highlights in Business, Economics and Management, 24, 832-838.

Downe-Wambolt, B. (1992) Content Analysis: Method, Applications and Issues. Health Care for Women International, 13, 313-321. https://doi.org/10.1080/07399339209516006

Dutton, W. H. (2014). The digital divide: Arguments for and against Facebook, Google, texting, and the age of social networking. Oxford University Press.

European Commission. (2012). Regional development and the digital economy: The case of Sweden and Finland.

Federal Communications Commission. (2022). Rural Broadband Expansion Report.

Fisk M, Livingstone A, Pit SW (2020). Telehealth in the context of COVID-19: changing perspectives in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 22:e19264.

Friedland WH (2002) Agriculture and rurality: beginning the “final separation”? Rural Sociol 67(3):350–371

Gao, X. (2023). An Empirical Test of the Development of Digital Economy Enabling Common Affluence. Statistics and Decision-Making, (14).

Geroski, P. A. (1989). Entry, innovation and productivity growth. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 71(4), 572-578. https://doi.org/10.2307/1928098

Gopaldas., A. (2016). A Front-to-back Guide to Writing a Qualitative Research Article. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal.19(1):115–121.

Guangshao, L. (2023). The mechanism of new infrastructure investment and the expansion of demand on the improvement of economic quality. Research on the business economy, (11).

Guodong, Y., Lin, Z., Yunan, Liu., et al. (2022). How does new infrastructure impact the competitiveness of the tourism industry? Evidence from China. PLOS ONE, 17(12).

Hanseth, O., K. Lyytinen. (2010). Design theory for dynamic complexity in information infrastructures: The case of building Internet. J. Inform. Tech. 25(1) 1-19.

Harvard Business Review. (2023). ROI of Rural Digital Infrastructure Projects.

Helper, S., Mertens, R., Seamans, R. (2019). Who profits from industry 4.0? Theory and evidence from the automotive industry. (January 31). NYU Stern School of Business.

Hirschman, A. O. (1958). The Strategy Of Economic Development. Ekonomisk Tidskrift, 1958, 61(2)

Hsieh, H. F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15, 1277-1288.

Irwin EG, Isserman AM, Kilkenny M, et al. (2010) A century of research on rural development and regional issues. Am J Agric Econ 92(2):522–553.

ITU. (2023). Digital Literacy in Rural India: Challenges and Opportunities. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374630496_DIGITAL_FINANCIAL_LITERACY_OPPORTUNITIES_AND_CHALLENGES_IN_RURAL_INDIA (accessed on 4 August 2024).

Jammeh, I. (2022). The Effect of Technological Innovation on Economic Growth: Evidence from ECOWAS Countries. International Journal of Social Sciences Perspectives, 11(1), 1-10.

Kong, W., Zhang, Q., Wu Y. (2023). Impact of the digital economy on global knowledge production. China Business and Market.

Laudon, K. C., & Traver, C. G. (2024). E-commerce 2024: Business, technology, society.

Lee, C. C., & Chang, C. P. (2008). Tourism development and economic growth: A closer look at panels. Tourism management, 29(1), 180-192.

Mao, X. (2023). Analysis of the Influence Path of Digital Infrastructure on Economic Development. Proceedings of the 2023 International Conference on Management Research and Economic Development.

Maradana, R. P., Pradhan, R. P., Dash, S., et al. (2017). Does innovation promote economic growth? Evidence from European countries. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 6(1), 1-23.

Maradana, R. P., Pradhan, R. P., Dash, S., et al. (2019). Innovation and economic growth in European Economic Area countries: The Granger causality approach. IIMB Management Review, 31(3), 268-282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iimb.2019.03.002.

McKinnon, R. I. (1964). Foreign exchange constraints in economic development and efficient aid allocation. The Economic Journal, 74(294), 388-409.

McKinsey & Company. (2021). Impact of High-Speed Internet on Rural Business Growth.

Niyitunga, E.B. (2022). ‘The Current and Potential Role of Blockchain-based Technology in Managing Medical Records in Africa’ Digital Policy Studies Journal, 1(1), 52-68. https://doi.org/10.36615/dps.v1i1.1253

Pan, W., Xie, T., Wang, Z., et al (2022). Lisha Ma. Digital economy: An innovation driver for total factor productivity. Journal of Business Research, 139, 303–311.

Rainer, R. K., & Cegielski, C. G. (2011). The digital divide: Arguments for and against Facebook, Google, texting, and the age of social networking. Springer.

Rindfleisch, A., O’Hern, M., Sachdev, V. (2017). The digital revolution, 3D printing, and innovation as data. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 34(5), 681-690.

Rosenstein Rodan P N. Problems of industrialization of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe[J]. Europe Economic Journal,1943,53(210/211):202-211.

Rostow, Walt Whitman (1962). The stages of economic growth. Oxford:England Cambridge University Press. pp. 217- 219

Schrag, P. S. (2009). The digital divide: The internet and social inequality in international perspective. Routledge.

Schreier, M. (2012). Qualitative content analysis in practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Schwab, K. (2016). The fourth industrial revolution. Crown Business.

Sellick, V. (2018). Digital infrastructure and rural economic development. Routledge.

Siebel, T. (2020). Digital transformation: Survive and thrive in an era of mass extinction. Rosetta Books.

Soiferman, L.K., (2010). Compare and Contrast Inductive and Deductive Research Approaches. Online Submission.

Solow, R. M. (1957). Technical change and the aggregate production function. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 39(3), 312–320. https://doi.org/10.2307/1926047.

South Korea Ministry of Science and ICT. (2023). Successful Digital Infrastructure Projects in Rural Areas.

Stake, R. E. (2010). The art of case study research. SAGE.

Steiner A, Atterton J., (2015). Exploring the contribution of rural enterprises to local resilience. J Rural Stud 40:30–45

Tapscott, D. (1996). The digital economy: Promise and peril in the age of networked intelligence. McGraw-Hill.

Tilson, D., Lyytinen, K.J., & Sørensen, C. (2010). Research Commentary - Digital Infrastructures: The Missing IS Research Agenda. Information Systems Research, 21, 748-759.

UNDP. (2023). Addressing Inequality in Digital Infrastructure Distribution.

Vartanian, T. P. 2010. Secondary data analysis. Oxford University Press.

Velaga, NR., Nelson, JD. Wright, SD. and Farrington, JH. (2012). The Potential Role of Flexible Transport Services in Enhancing Rural Public Transport Provision. Journal of Public Transportation, 15(1), 111-131.

Vuckovic, M. (2016). The relationship between innovation and economic growth in emerging economies. Available online: http://ffhoarep.fh-ooe.at/bitstream/123456789/738/1/130_323_Vuckovic_FullPaper_en_Final.pdf (accessed on 8 August 2024).

Wangui, Miriam. (2020). “Kenya to Earn KSh 1.4 Trillion from Digital Economy by 2025.” The Kenyan Wall Street, November 14. Available online: https://kenyanwallstreet.com/ kenya-to-earn-ksh-1-4-trillion-from-digital-economy-by-2025/ (accessed on 8 August 2024).

World Bank (1990). “World Development Report” (1990) defined poverty as having less than US$370 of annual income per capita, and absolute poverty as less than US$250.

World Bank (2022). Online Education Impact in Rural Kenya.

Wu, J., Zhang, Y., Shi, Z. (2021). Crafting a Sustainable Next Generation Infrastructure: Evaluation of China’s New Infrastructure Construction Policies. Sustainability, 13(11).

Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Yin, R. K. (2018). Case Study Research and Applications: Designs and Methods (6th ed.). SAGE.

Zhang, K. (2023). New Infrastructure Boosts High-Quality Economic Development. Times of Fortune, (06), 50-52.

Zhiyong, Z., Changchang L. (2022). The impact of digital infrastructure on the urban-rural income gap and its threshold effect. Journal of South China Agricultural University (Social Science Edition), 21(05), 126-140.

Zhou, L., Zhang, F., Wang, J. (2021). Exploration of the Path for the Digital Economy to Help China’s Economic Recovery and Development under the COVID-19 Epidemic. Business exhibition economy, (15), 024-027.

Zuboff, S. (1988). In the Age of the Smart Machine. Basic Books, New York.