Taxes hindering growth of mobile services in Africa, new report says
Mobile money selling points in Rwanda. East Africa has too many consumer taxes, according to a GSMA report. PHOTO | FILE
Taxes and fees imposed on the telecom sector are impeding the growth of mobile services in African markets, a new report notes.
The levies imposed on mobile consumers and operators include corporation tax, turnover tax and revenue tax, together with the one-off licence fee, the one-off spectrum fee, universal service obligation, the variable licence fee and the variable spectrum fee. These levies have undermined efforts to make mobile services more accessible, mainly to the poor, notes the report released by GSMA, a telecom research organisation.
