Econet pushing for customs duties reduction on mobile phones

Mobile money operator Econet, is lobbying for the reduction and review of duties being paid on imports of smartphones to enable acceleration of internet usage.

The MNO states that local penetration rate for smartphones is lower compared to regional counterparts like South Africa.
As of October 2014 the country has been levying 25% customs duty on mobile phone handset imports.

Hence the lobby on reduction of importation duty to boost adoption of smartphones.

Econet revealed this in its latest financial report.

“We are working closely with the government to review the duty regime for mobile devices to enhance the rapid adoption of digital services across the economy.”

“Smart phone penetration is low at 52%, compared to about 90% for South Africa, which remains a limitation for the adoption of digital services.”

Myers added that approximately 22% of the devices on the company’s network trying to access data services are feature phones with low data handling capacity.

While telecommunication companies have been struggling the battled economy and rising inflation it still can be a challenge.

He added that an opportunity to boost consumption of digital services in the country should be availed.

According Potraz Q2 2020 report active internet and data subscriptions declined by 2.4% to reach 56.7% from 59.1% recorded in the previous quarter.