In the grand halls of Kinshasa’s first-ever États Généraux du Secteur des Postes et Télécommunications, a high-level policy forum convened to shape the Democratic Republic of Congo’s digital future, one message cut through the usual diplomatic language with unusual clarity.
Mr. Daddy Mukadi, Chief Regulatory Officer of Airtel Africa and Chair of the GSMA Africa Policy Group (and a member of the GSMA’s global policy leadership), stood before an audience that included President Félix Tshisekedi and declared that Africa’s governments must stop viewing telecommunications as a mere supporting industry. It is now a foundational economic pillar—one upon which security, finance, transport, health, and virtually every other sector increasingly depend.
This is not incremental advocacy. Mukadi’s intervention reframes the entire policy conversation. For decades, telecom policy in many African markets has been treated as a revenue source for governments—through spectrum fees, excise taxes, and import duties—or as a technical issue best left to regulators. Mukadi argues that such an approach is outdated and actively harmful. The sector’s economic footprint has grown too large, and its enabling role too critical, to be managed with yesterday’s mindset.
The numbers that demand a policy reset
The urgency is backed by hard data from the GSMA’s Mobile Economy Africa 2025 report. In 2024, mobile operators contributed US$220 billion to Africa’s economy—equivalent to 7.7% of the continent’s total GDP. By 2030, that figure is forecast to rise to US$270 billion. These are not abstract projections; they represent direct investment, jobs, tax revenue, and productivity gains across linked industries.
Yet the paradox is stark. Mobile networks already reach 95% of Africa’s population. Coverage, in infrastructure terms, is no longer the primary problem. The real crisis is the usage gap: nearly 75% of Africans remain offline. The GSMA identifies the single biggest driver of this disconnect as the unaffordability of devices—particularly entry-level smartphones. People can see the network towers, but they cannot afford the device needed to connect to them.
This distinction between coverage and usage is crucial. It shifts the policy focus from “build more towers” to “make access economically viable.” Without smartphones priced within reach of the mass market, the economic multiplier effect of digital inclusion—mobile money, agricultural apps, e-health, digital education, and small-business e-commerce—remains locked away.
Two targeted tax reforms as immediate levers
Mukadi’s speech was not a general call for reform; it was surgically precise. He proposed two concrete, time-bound tax adjustments that directly target the affordability and infrastructure barriers:
- A two-to-three-year exemption on import duties and taxes for entry-level smartphones priced between US$40 and US$150.
This bracket is deliberate. It covers the devices most likely to drive first-time smartphone adoption among lower-income households and rural populations—the very segments that make up the bulk of the usage gap. Import duties currently inflate the landed cost of these phones, pushing them beyond the financial reach of millions. A temporary holiday would lower retail prices quickly, stimulate demand, and encourage local assembly or distribution ecosystems to scale. The time limit (two to three years) provides governments with a built-in review mechanism: if adoption surges as expected, the policy can be extended or made permanent based on measurable outcomes rather than ideology. - Removal of entry duties on telecommunications equipment for at least three years.
Network operators face the same cost pressures when importing base stations, fiber-optic gear, microwave links, and other infrastructure components. Duties slow deployment, raise the cost of capital, and ultimately delay 4G/5G rollout in underserved areas. A three-year window would accelerate investment decisions, particularly in rural and semi-urban zones where the return on investment is slower. Faster infrastructure expansion, in turn, creates the supply-side conditions for broader service uptake once affordable devices enter the market.
Taken together, these measures form a coherent “demand + supply” intervention. Lower device prices ignite usage; cheaper equipment expands and upgrades the networks that usage depends on. Mukadi framed the outcome clearly: “These measures would help deliver inclusive and sustainable digital technology for economic and social progress. They would also support faster connectivity, improved access and the ability to connect more people, businesses and communities to the digital economy.”
The need for a new regulatory mindset
Mukadi was careful not to stop at tax relief. He stressed that governments and the private sector must collaborate on a broader enabling environment—one that encourages long-term investment while protecting consumers and fostering innovation. This includes predictable licensing regimes, fair spectrum allocation, and regulatory frameworks that reward rather than penalize scale.
The subtext is important. Africa’s digital economy is no longer an experiment; it is a proven growth engine. Treating telecoms as a core sector means integrating digital policy into national development plans at the highest level—alongside agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and education—rather than leaving it in the silo of a communications ministry. When every other sector depends on reliable, affordable connectivity, the cost of getting telecom policy wrong is no longer sector-specific; it is economy-wide.
