The Ghanaian government has announced it would drop taxes on all imported smartphones by next.
In its 2015 budget, the government said it realised that although Ghana has high mobile phone penetration, smartphones only represent 15%.
"Communication is shifting from voice to data and mobile data is projected to grow 6.3 times between 2013 and 2018. It is being proposed that in order to increase smartphone penetration, and in line with Government's policy of bridging the digital divide within the country, import duties on smartphones will be removed. It is expected that the increase in smartphone penetration will increase revenue from Communication Service Tax, VAT and corporate taxes," the government stated in the budget.
Efforts to remove this duty were driven by the A4AI Ghana Coalition Working Group on Taxation, led by Kwaku Saakyi-Addo, CEO of Telecoms Chamber. The elimination of the 20% import duty will reduce the cost of handsets in Ghana -- where taxes make up approximately 35% of the cost of a smartphone -- enabling many more ordinary Ghanaians to afford smartphones that allow them to access the life-changing potential of the Web.
With the average cost of 500MB of mobile data still hovering at around 11% of the average Ghanaian's income, there is still much work to do before the Internet becomes truly affordable for all citizens. The import tax on smartphones is one of five taxes targeted by the A4AI-Ghana Coalition
Notably, when Kenya scrapped VAT on handsets in 2009, devices in circulation quadrupled and overall mobile penetration rose from 50% to more than 70%. Ghana hopes to achieve similar results.
In its 2015 budget, the government said it realised that although Ghana has high mobile phone penetration, smartphones only represent 15%.
"Communication is shifting from voice to data and mobile data is projected to grow 6.3 times between 2013 and 2018. It is being proposed that in order to increase smartphone penetration, and in line with Government's policy of bridging the digital divide within the country, import duties on smartphones will be removed. It is expected that the increase in smartphone penetration will increase revenue from Communication Service Tax, VAT and corporate taxes," the government stated in the budget.
Efforts to remove this duty were driven by the A4AI Ghana Coalition Working Group on Taxation, led by Kwaku Saakyi-Addo, CEO of Telecoms Chamber. The elimination of the 20% import duty will reduce the cost of handsets in Ghana -- where taxes make up approximately 35% of the cost of a smartphone -- enabling many more ordinary Ghanaians to afford smartphones that allow them to access the life-changing potential of the Web.
With the average cost of 500MB of mobile data still hovering at around 11% of the average Ghanaian's income, there is still much work to do before the Internet becomes truly affordable for all citizens. The import tax on smartphones is one of five taxes targeted by the A4AI-Ghana Coalition
Notably, when Kenya scrapped VAT on handsets in 2009, devices in circulation quadrupled and overall mobile penetration rose from 50% to more than 70%. Ghana hopes to achieve similar results.
All Africa country should do the same because as a developing nations, we need tech to grow.
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