Agence Ecofin) – According to a report published by the Guinean Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology, the telecommunications sector is the second largest employer in the country, after the mining sector. Beyond the direct jobs in telecommunications companies, this sector has created a chain of indirect jobs in which are found in particular the wholesale and retail merchants of recharge cards, Mobile Money agents and call booth operators .
The telecommunications sector is also a major contributor to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Each year, it represents 22% of the national GDP, that is to say more than 2 billion Guinean francs (more than 225 196 US dollars) resulting from the various taxes paid to the State by the telecommunications companies, in particular the income tax which represents 3% of their turnover. This income tax has been boosted over the years by telecom operators who, on instructions from the government, have improved access to their services in the country in order to increase the number of users of the telecom services they offer. and in turn their income.
According to the information site guinee28.info, thanks to the national policy for the promotion and development of information and communication technologies, the penetration rate of mobile telephony has thus increased from 20% in 2010 to more than 80% in 2015. The Internet penetration rate went from 0% to 20% during the same period. Thus, of the 3,999,000 mobile subscribers in the country in 2010, it rose to 10,765,000 subscribers in the 4th quarter of 2015 while the number of Internet users increased from 31,000 to 2,438,000 in 4th quarter 2015, indicate the reports of the Telecommunications and Post Regulatory Authority (Artp).
The current deployment of fiber optics across the country will take consumption of telecom services in the country to a higher level. Very high speed broadband, which brings innovations, suggests an even stronger future contribution from telecoms in job creation and state finances.
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