The importation of computer equipment into the Republic of Congo is now freed from all taxes.
The measure which is about to last two years is included within the 2021 finance law, which takes effect this January. The aim is to offer a lift to the digital economy.
Nevertheless, users and business operators are bracing up for the change as prices are expected to fall.
“For example, I can get a core i 7 for 600,000 CFA francs, and that’s a new computer. If i do not pay taxes, which will be a bonus, because the buying of machines, or electronic products, drives us to train others in several fields;” according to Brunel who is a businessman.
But for several importers, there is no reason to get over excited too quickly: old stocks, which are subject to the old law, must first be emptied.
While the Law on the importation of electronic items into the Republic of Congo is an exception in Sub-Saharan Africa, the shortage of basic infrastructure like electricity, remains a drag during a country where only 9.7 percent of the population has access to the web.
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