Is it still possible for countries to leapfrog path dependent choices that many other countries have taken in the past?

I think there are a few questions embedded in this, but I have in mind the rapid expansion of mobile phone use, phone banking etc in Africa, that has bipassed the need for infrastructure associated with landline telephones etc. Have decentralised energy production which doesn't need national grid infrastructure is (I think) talked about in a similar vein, so I wonder if there are other such paths that are expensive to get out of that could be avoided e.g high input, high pollution, intensive agricultural systems? 

I guess I have in mind that transformation is more costly once you have gone a long way down a path that needs to change where as the benefits of transformation might be easier to demonstrate where there is a chance to move straight to a better system - I just don't (personally) know if that's possible in the systems which are the key drivers of biodiversity loss.

Would be interested to know if others have thoughts here. (including if I'm not really thinking about tranformational change here)