How The Social Media Tax Is Worsening Uganda’s Digital Divides
Note: Names of interviewees have been changed in order to ensure anonymity
Moses is 31 and an armed security guard outside of a mall in Kampala. Moses tells me, during my research trip to Uganda, that he fled to Uganda’s capital from Gulu during the height of the conflict with Joseph Kony’s Lord Resistance Army. Being an armed security guard is, by his description, a “low-status job” in Ugandan society. Despite having no computer skills, Moses is working to save up to go to university to retrain to be an IT technician. He tells me that soon “all jobs in Uganda” will have some digital element and, if he’s an IT technician, he will always be in demand and be able to afford a better quality of life.
Like all economies throughout Sub Saharan Africa, Uganda is rapidly seeing digital take prominence in everyday life and work. However, 78% of Ugandans don’t have active broadband connections. Those that do have internet access do so mostly through data on their smartphones¹. However, unlike most countries, internet usage in Uganda is decreasing.
Last year the government introduced the Social Media (OTT) tax which led to millions of Ugandans deciding to no longer use the internet, within three months of the introduction of the tax internet subscription dropped by 2.5 million and social media users dropped by 1.2 million². The tax means Ugandans are now required to pay 400 shillings (8p) a day to use apps like Facebook, WhatsApp and Skype. Canadian-based telecoms intelligence firm, Research ICT Solutions predicts the tax could cost the Ugandan economy $750million³. However, looking outside of the macroeconomic impact of the policy, it seems to be worsening demographic digital divides throughout Uganda; rich and poor, male and female, urban and rural, citizens and refugees. Measures like these risk further disadvantaging digitally excluded Ugandans.
Firstly there is the uneven impact the tax has on Ugandans depending on locality. Whilst in Kampala, where incomes are higher, the tax costs 2.4% of the average monthly income, in poorer areas like Bukedi and Acholi, people have to spend 22.6% and 19.6% of the average income respectively to be able to use social media⁴. When speaking to Jonathan, an NGO worker in some of Kampala’s informal settlements where the most disadvantaged people in the city live, he estimates “90% of slum dwellers” (in Uganda, they proudly use the term ‘slum’ to claim it back from its negative connotations) have access to the internet, however virtually none have computers — all access is via smartphones⁵. Outside of the urban ‘slums’, similar problems are faced within the hyper-rural villages, such as the village I visited in the Hoima District of Western Uganda. Poor infrastructure and low incomes dictates than those who do have access to internet have access almost exclusively via smartphone data⁶. The local school does not have a computer, which the teacher tells me is a huge impediment, as “it is harder for pupils to do exams by hand than to type the answers⁷.” Throughout Uganda, teachers are keen to embed digital within their lessons, but having access to ICT facilities in schools is rare⁸. This will have implications for the future of the Ugandan economy if the next generation does not have the required skills to participate best in an increasingly-digital and increasingly-global economy.
However, I find in rural areas a big gap between digital access and digital skills. In another rural village within Western Uganda, whilst most are able to access a smartphone, only 2% know how to use it for the internet⁹. Of that 2% all are men. This leads to perhaps the biggest digital divide in Uganda: gender. Only one in 9 women across Africa have access to the internet¹⁰. Many Ugandan women, especially those who rely on subsistence farming, can’t afford smartphones and data bundles¹¹. Cost is a significant barrier to internet use, throughout the continent, therefore adding a tax onto aspects of the internet can only harm already fragile digital inclusion¹². And the increasing cost of the internet is exacerbating Uganda’s digital gender gap. 1GB of data is 22% of the average monthly income in Uganda, and African countries where internet access is so expensive, like Uganda and Mozambique, have the lowest numbers of women online¹³. I found that, especially in rural areas, where attitudes towards women are more (to put it diplomatically) “traditional,” that many of those who did have access to smartphones had their access monitored by their husbands, or the husband controlled the smartphone and the women had to use it with his permission. I discuss the digital capabilities of women in the Hoima district with Grace, who runs a charity that helps women become entrepreneurs either within the formal or informal economies. Grace tells me that the lack of digital skills in women is an impediment to her organisation’s goal as, she believes, “only 30% of women locally have access to the internet¹⁴.” Traditional attitudes in certain regions of Uganda to where women ‘should be’ also restricts women from attending internet cafes¹⁵ and internet cafes throughout Africa are usually used by tourists due to the high cost relative to income¹⁶.
The Social Media tax makes communicating a more costly endeavour, purely because sending messages using data, via Facebook, Skype or WhatsApp, is cheaper than communicating via SMS or a traditional phone call (both are not covered by the social media tax and paid for by message/minute). Those priced out of using social media now risk being less connected or being significantly poorer for trying to be connected.
As more and more people are priced out of the internet and into digital exclusion. Those who are digitally excluded are missing out on the opportunities of the growing Ugandan economy. When speaking to Isaac who is a community leader in Bulissa, an area that has recently discovered oil and has become the target of significant public and private investment, in preparation for the imminent economic activity to extract oil, he tells me about the National Talent Register. This is a measure that means that it is Ugandan workers who benefit from the oil investment, people with skills of interest to the oil industry sign up for this register and they must be prioritised over foreign workers. The problem? The form is done online. If you can’t access the form, you’re going to miss out on the oil boom¹⁷.
Another digital divide that is being exacerbated is the financial freedoms accessible to the better off Ugandans compared to those at the bottom of the ladder. Wherever you go in Uganda there are two things which are advertised everywhere — from every billboard in Kampala, to the hand-painted exteriors of the tiny shops in rural Uganda — beer and Mobile Money. Before the tax was introduced, Mobile Money was a popular method to transfer money from person-to-person in Uganda. It was even used for remittance for refugees within Uganda¹⁸. To this day it is still widely used by most, however, use is declining. The value of Mobile Money transactions fell by 4.5 trillion shillings (£944,000), within the first three months of the Social Media tax’s implementation¹⁹. Mobile Money agents have seen their commission that they previously earned from the lowest paying customers cancelled out by the government-introduced levy, forcing them to turn away clients from poorer backgrounds as they can end up losing money on these transactions, meaning that the most disadvantaged Ugandans are without the same financial services as those from a higher socioeconomic status²⁰.
President Museveni introduced the tax to tackle gossiping, although a finance minister claimed its purpose is to raise revenue for public services. However, it has been technology and financial firms which have been hit hardest, with some having to make job cuts. Some human rights campaigners have accused the government of wanting to combat the general public accessing news and political information which could make them more critical of the government. They cite President Museveni shutting down all social media sites during the 2016 elections in order to stop the spread of “misleading information”²¹.
Uganda knows there is a digital revolution well underway, however, I would argue that it is not fully prepared for the challenges and opportunities it offers. Whilst the most obvious implication from my findings is that the government should rethink policies which penalise those who attempt to embrace digital, hitting the poorest the hardest, I would argue that there is the lack of the necessary digital skills throughout the population overall which stems to the lack of opportunities for people to learn. If Ugandans are not taught ICT in school and cannot afford to access a computer or tablet, how are they expected to acquire digital skills?
Whilst in the developed world, it is easy to make the argument for the government to provide better funding for computers in schools, in Uganda this is not a realistic request. A lot of schools do not even have adequate toilet facilities, demanding suitable ICT provisions is currently not a realistic ask from government in the foreseeable future. The main purpose of my visit was to research the impacts of Universal Primary Education (UPE) across Uganda and the state school system is heavily reliant on NGOs and charities, who played a key role in the policy’s introduction and are still key to its implementation, 22 years later²².
For those of us who want to see a growing and sustainable Ugandan economy, it is important that NGOs, charities and international donors not only work with the government to try and address regressive policies but also we offer more support to Uganda’s public and private education network. I would like to see the donor community concentrate efforts on improving the education available for Ugandans. ICT is a big gap, but better provision of ICT alone will only be of a significant benefit to male Ugandans, as whilst the introduction of UPE in 1997 dramatically increased enrollment for all Ugandan children, it has not been able to address the alarmingly high dropout rate of girls.
We also need to think about the current generation of Ugandans who need better and want better digital skills in order to give themselves and their families a better quality of life. Like in the case of people like Moses the armed security guard in Kampala, For Ugandans, there are very few projects available, in the mould of Good Things Foundation’s in neighbouring Kenya, Digital Life: Kenya, which helps empower socially excluded people through digital literacy.
In summary, I believe in order to achieve a more digitally inclusive and economically prosperous Uganda the third sector must:
- Work with the Ugandan government to address negative economic and social outcomes of the Social Media tax.
- Support the Ugandan school system to address the factors (poverty²³ and traditional attitudes²⁴ causing parents to prioritise boys’ education, hidden costs²⁵, lack of facilities²⁶, early marriage²⁷) which causes high dropout rate amongst girls.
- Work with education policymakers to write up a realistic blueprint which will ensure there is at least one computer in every school in Uganda within a set timeframe.
- Form a community network to help empower people through the provision of digital skills, similar to Digital Life: Kenya.
Ultimately, I think back to the attitude of Moses, who dreams of a better tomorrow through digital by putting in the work today. This is ultimately the spirit that all policy-makers and stakeholders need in order for Ugandan to achieve sustainable development in the future global economy.
References
[1] Mothobi, Onkokame and Chair, Chenai (2018). Impetuous policies increasing digital divide In Uganda: Social media tax. Research ICT Africa. https://researchictafrica.net/2018/07/23/impetuous-policies-increasing-digital-divide-in-uganda-social-media-tax/
[2] Dahir, Abdi Latif (2019). Uganda’s social media tax has led to a drop in internet and mobile money users. QZ.com. https://qz.com/africa/1553468/uganda-social-media-tax-decrease-internet-users-revenues/
[3] ibid.
[4] ibid.
[5] Interview with NGO worker specialising in informal settlements, Kampala, Uganda, March 30th 2019.
[6] Interview with chairman of a rural LC3 settlement in Hoima District, Uganda, April 3rd 2019.
[7] Interview with a teacher in a rural school in Hoima District, Uganda, April 3rd 2019
[8] Ratcliffe, Rebecca and Okiror, Samuel (2019) Millions of Ugandans quit internet services as social media tax takes effect. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/feb/27/millions-of-ugandans-quit-internet-after-introduction-of-social-media-tax-free-speech
[9] Focus group with 37 villagers from a rural village in Hoima District Uganda, April 4th 2019
[10] Nyamishana, Prudence (2018) The Social Media Tax in Uganda will Deepen the Digital Divide. Africa Blogging. https://www.africablogging.org/the-social-media-tax-in-uganda-will-deepen-the-digital-divide/
[11] Ratcliffe, Rebecca and Okiror, Samuel (2019) Millions of Ugandans quit internet services as social media tax takes effect. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/feb/27/millions-of-ugandans-quit-internet-after-introduction-of-social-media-tax-free-speech
[12] Mothobi, Onkokame and Chair, Chenai (2018). Impetuous policies increasing digital divide In Uganda: Social media tax. Research ICT Africa. https://researchictafrica.net/2018/07/23/impetuous-policies-increasing-digital-divide-in-uganda-social-media-tax/
[13] Ratcliffe, Rebecca and Okiror, Samuel (2019) Millions of Ugandans quit internet services as social media tax takes effect. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/feb/27/millions-of-ugandans-quit-internet-after-introduction-of-social-media-tax-free-speech
[14] Interview with NGO worker, rural Hoima, Uganda, April 4th 2019.
[15] Nyamishana, Prudence (2018) The Social Media Tax in Uganda will Deepen the Digital Divide. Africa Blogging. https://www.africablogging.org/the-social-media-tax-in-uganda-will-deepen-the-digital-divide/
[16] Pick, James B and Sarkar, Avijit (2015). Global Digital Divides. Chapter 9: Digital Divide in Africa. Page 276 https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-662-46602-5.pdf
[17] Interview with elected councillor in Bulissa, Uganda, April 6th 2019.
[18] Interview with Kampala resident, March 31st, 2019.
[19] Dahir, Abdi Latif (2019). Uganda’s social media tax has led to a drop in internet and mobile money users. QZ.com. https://qz.com/africa/1553468/uganda-social-media-tax-decrease-internet-users-revenues/
[20] Ratcliffe, Rebecca and Okiror, Samuel (2019) Millions of Ugandans quit internet services as social media tax takes effect. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/feb/27/millions-of-ugandans-quit-internet-after-introduction-of-social-media-tax-free-speech
[21] ibid.
[22] Ahikire, Josephine & Mwiine, Aamon (2015) The Politics of Promoting Gender Equity in Contemporary Uganda: Cases of the Domestic Violence Law and the Policy on Universal Primary Education. Effective States for Inclusive Development (ESID) Working Paper series, №55. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2695727 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2695727
[23] Nishimura, Mikiko & Yamano, Takashi & Sasaoka, Yuichi. (2008). Impacts of the universal education policy on education attainment and private costs in rural Uganda. International Journal of Educational Development. 28. 161–175. 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2006.09.017.
[24] Deininger, Klaus (2003) Does cost of schooling affect enrollment by the poor? Universal primary education in Uganda. Economics of Education Review. 22:3, 291–305, ISSN 0272- 7757, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7757(02)00053-5.
[25] Mwesigwa, Alon (2015) Uganda’s success in universal primary education falling apart. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/globaldevelopment/2015/apr/23/uganda-success-universal-primary-education-falling-apart-upe
[26] Muhammad, Kiggundu Musoke and Itaaga, Nicholas (2015) Equity Implications of the Universal Primary Education Funding Mechanisms in Uganda, Review of Knowledge Economy, 2, issue 2, p. 80–92, https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pkp:rokeco:2015:p:80-92
[27] Deininger, Klaus (2003) Does cost of schooling affect enrollment by the poor? Universal primary education in Uganda. Economics of Education Review. 22:3, 291–305, ISSN 0272- 7757, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7757(02)00053-5.
