Mali Starts Taxes on Mobile-Phone Use to Fund Terrorist Fight
- New taxes slapped on mobile-phone calls and mobile-money
- Nation needs to replenish resources for security and energy
The central market of Bamako.
Photographer: Michele Cattani /AFP/Getty Images
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Mali has introduced taxes on mobile voice calls and mobile-money withdrawals to support its fight against an Islamic insurgency that’s threatening to take over part of the country.
Customer recharge for calls will incur a tax of 10% while withdrawals from mobile-money wallet will be hit with a 1% levy, Minister of Economy and Finance Alousseni Sanou told reporters in the capital, Bamako. The new taxes together with other revenue measures are expected to raise roughly 140 billion CFA francs ($220 million) to finance security and energy, Sanou said.