Zambia reportedly attracts over $54 million in ICT investment following tax waivers

Zambia has reportedly attracted investments in excess of US$54 million in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector for the last two years.

Technology and Science Minister, Felix Mutati, stated that this investment surge followed government’s decision to waive taxes on the importation of ICT equipment.

Speaking when a delegation from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) paid a courtesy call on him at Maxwell House in Lusaka, Mutati noted an increase in digital infrastructure in the country.

“Government took the decision to waive the taxes in order to open up the ICT sector and promote private sector involvement,” he stated.

He revealed that Starlink, which entered the market last year with 100 kits, had now increased to 11,000 kits, significantly boosting digital connectivity.

Mutati disclosed that by next month, Zambia would be connected by optic fibre to all of its eight neighboring countries.

“Zambia has completed connecting itself to Angola by optic fibre and the next target is Mozambique,” he said.

The Minister added that the Ministry’s decision to reduce courier fees had resulted in a surge of new courier companies.

From an initial 40 companies, over 120 are now operating, primarily using motorcycles.

Additionally, Mutati revealed that 379 communication towers would be constructed nationwide to increase phone network access.

COMESA Director for Information and Communication Technology, Lanka Dorby, said the delegation was in Zambia with a consultant to assess the possibility of setting up the Cloud Africa Ecosystem.

“Zambia is among 10 African countries which are high performers in the ICT sector and are being assessed with the possibility of hosting the cloud headquarters,” Dorby said.

She stated that the Cloud Africa Ecosystem would host African data and provide industry with the latest information.

Dorby added that COMESA, with funding from the African Development Bank, would establish the Cloud Africa Ecosystem headquarters in one country and a backup data center in another.

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