Lowering import tariffs on devices could boost internet adoption in Africa
Handsets could become more affordable
Governments in Africa should consider lowering import tariffs on handsets to make them more affordable and to boost internet adoption, MTN CEO Rob Shuter says. According to the World Bank, a 10% increase in broadband penetration brings a 1.4% increase in GDP growth in emerging markets. Slightly more than a fifth of Africa’s population used the internet in 2017, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). In Europe, that number was as high as 80%. Shuter said that of MTN’s 223-million subscribers across the Middle East and Africa, only about 70-million were active data users, despite the mobile operator’s efforts to increase coverage. “I think the bigger problem now, rather than coverage, is the affordability of devices,” Shuter said at the ITU Telecom World conference in Durban this week. He was addressing a crowd that included SA’s minister of telecommunications and postal services, Siyabonga Cwele. Shuter said many African markets had “very high” import duties on...
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