Government is in talks with neighbouring states, particularly Tanzania and Kenya, to cut taxes levied on these goods.
Uganda to get discount on imported smartphones - Baryomunsi
The Minister for Information and Communications Technology, Dr. Chris Baryomunsi, has revealed government plans to get Ugandans cheaper imported internet-enabled gadgets, especially smartphones.
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This drive is backed by government realisation of Vision2040 to boost digital connectivity in the country in order to improve project management in agriculture, health, education, justice and law and order.
According to Baryomunsi, Uganda being a landlocked country will not be an obstacle to government efforts to increase citizen subscription for e-government services.
Lowering prices for global capacity is one of the goals of the Regional Communications Infrastructure Programme (RCIP) to expand the geographic reach of e-government applications.
Speaking at a breakfast meeting organised by National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U), Baryomunsi applauded the organisation for improving internet accessibility for mobile users.
“Currently, there are more than 30 million mobile phone subscribers translating to a 71% subscription rate. Over 23 million Ugandans are internet users translating into the 71%,” he said.
The meeting was organised to celebrate the completion of a 5-year partnership between NITA-U and the government
“We are here to celebrate the successful implementation of RCIP across the different sectors of government. Through RCIP, we have registered significant progress over the 5-year period with a 100% project completion of all set project activities," said Hatwib Mugasa, Executive Director at NITA-U.
The Country Manager of World Bank, Mukama Kariuki, solicited government to make the most of the RCIP successes to further encourage use of government digital platforms to serve the country.
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