Macra lobbys parliament for 2 year tax break in smartphones as only 1m Malawians have access to internet
Officials from Malawi communications regulatory authority (Macra) say they are lobbying Parliament for a two-year tax break on smartphone devices so that more Malawians can access internet.
Macra director general, Daud Suleman said this at Phalombe Teachers Training College (TTC) where the communications regulator donated 15 desktop computers.
Macra also donated 20 computers to Phalombe Secondary School.
Suleman said there are 13.5 million registered simcards in Malawi but only one million are connected to the internet.
“This means 12.5 phones are mose waleros that are not up to date with the authority’s mandate of ensuring that every Malawian should have access to the internet,” he said.
The donation is part of a connect-a-TTC initiative which was also launched during the event by Minister of Information and Digitilization Moses and Minister of Education Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima.
Minister of Information Moses Kunkuyu said the government is giving a serious consideration the issue of tax break on smartphones in the country.
He said the tax break will allow people purchase equipment which will go a long way in enhancing use of digital technologies which will help the nation grow in many ways like the rest of the world.
Meanwhile, Education minister Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima has said the state of the art equipment in colleges will make sure the students utilize modern means of acquiring and utilizing information.
The initiative is meant to run for five years and to the tune of K 2 billion.
