BY THE GUARDIAN REPORTER
21st October 2013
This is an increase of 86% in comparison to the amount paid during the first half of its financial year in 2012, says Vodacom Tanzania’s Managing Director Rene Meza.
Last year Vodacom paid 15.7bn/- over the same period, he says, adding that his company is able to make significant contributions to government revenue because it continues to get a return of its investment in the business.
The mobile phone firm has invested in excess of 1.5trn /- in Tanzania todate.
“We will continue to invest in the expansion and upgrade of our network. We currently have over 2,700 sites across the country that provide communication services to over 90% of the population in Tanzania. Innovation remains a key driver of our business and we are particularly proud of our M-Pesa service which allows over 5 million Tanzanians to continually choose it as their preferred option for payment and financial transactions.
We have through M-Pesa, allowed many Tanzanians to be active players in the country’s economy today,” says Meza.
On the uptake of technology in the market today, Meza says his company continues to encourage more Tanzanians to join the technology revolution through allowing its customers to access the internet via a variety of packages that are best suited to their lifestyles.
He however, cautions that at approximately10%, the country has one of the lowest internet penetrations in the African continent compared to neighbouring Kenya which stands at 40% and that it is important to put in place strategies that encourage the use of technology.
He goes on to say that the increased tax burden on the telecommunications sector will, however, negatively impact the adoption of technology because it will make mobile communication services, which have over the years become increasingly affordable for all, expensive. The increased cost of communication does not encourage the uptake of technology, he says.
On the impact of the 1,000/- monthly SIMCard tax, Meza says the new tax will affect many other initiatives in the sector, including rural expansion, and it will deny many Tanzanians access to basic and affordable telecommunications services. “It will be difficult for us to rollout our network in more rural areas if there is no market for our services and people cannot afford them,” he says.
For their part, telecommunication analysts say that the disconnection of customers who will not be able to pay the Tshs 1,000/- SIM Card tax will lead to a reduction in government revenue because these customers do pay 14.5% excise duty and 18% VAT on their current lower usage.
Other than ensuring that telecommunication services remain affordable for all, Meza further says that Vodacom Tanzania prides itself on the work that it continues to do in the CSR arena.
In 2012, the company through its corporate giving arm – the Vodacom Foundation - spent 11bn/- on health, education and economic empowerment initiatives in the country. The Vodacom Foundation has supported over 120 projects to date, ranging from fundraising for the awareness and eradication of fistula in Tanzania, the provision of teaching facilities to schools, the economic empowerment of women in rural areas to the provision of water to communities in semi-arid areas.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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