By Evelyn Lirri |
When Uganda introduced a tax on social media use in 2018, the government hoped the new source of revenue would help widen the country’s tax base. Instead, internet subscriptions fell drastically and the government did not raise the anticipated revenue as most users turned to Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to access social media platforms.
Three years later in July 2021, Uganda abandoned…
By Juliet Nanfuka |
Ethiopia, one of the world’s last closed telecommunications markets, has been liberalised. On May 22, 2021, the Ethiopian government announced that a new telecommunications license had been awarded to the Global Partnership for Ethiopia – a consortium comprising Kenya’s Safaricom PLC, Vodacom Group, Vodafone Group, the United Kingdom’s development finance institution CDC Group plc, the Japanese-owned Sumitomo…
By Nana Ama Sarfo |
An unresolved issue in the OECD’s base erosion and profit-shifting 2.0 reform project is when and how countries will remove their unilateral digital tax measures once a solution is brokered. The OECD has made it clear that inclusive framework members are expected to revoke unilateral measures and refrain from introducing new ones when that time comes.
Yet after rounds of discussions,…
By Jimmy Kainja |
Malawi’s two leading telecommunication companies, Airtel Malawi and Telekom Networks Malawi (TNM), have reduced data prices in recent weeks. In a July 30, 2020 statement, Airtel Malawi announced new data bundle prices, with reductions of up to 40%. Only a month earlier in June 2020, Airtel Malawi published financial statements showing it recorded profits of 588% for the…
Call for Applications |
With a quarter of Africa’s population using the internet and with 76 mobile phone connection for every 100 individuals, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has become pivotal to improving livelihoods and promoting human rights on the continent. However, with rising digital rights violations such as arrests and intimidation of internet users, network shutdowns, and a proliferation of laws…