Why taxing smartphones in Cameroon undermines digital ambitions

Countries that have successfully undergone digital transformation share a common strategy: connecting citizens first, removing technological access barriers, and fostering inclusion through innovation. Cameroon, however, has taken a divergent approach by introducing a 33.33% tax on mobile devices.

This policy contradicts the stated goals of digital transformation. While authorities speak of digital economy, connectivity, and technological innovation, the reality is starkly different: citizens are now required to pay between 1,670 FCFA for basic phones and 135,000 FCFA for high-end smartphones to use these devices legally within the country.

This is not digital policy. It is its antithesis.

The smartphone: a lifeline in daily life

For millions of Cameroonians, smartphones are not luxury items—they are essential tools:

• The student accessing online courses
• The merchant processing Mobile Money transactions
• The farmer checking market prices
• The artisan connecting with clients via WhatsApp
• The informal worker accessing public services through digital platforms

For these citizens, smartphones represent the primary bridge to the digital economy that the government claims to be building. Taxing them is like charging admission to a construction site that the state itself has initiated.

An incomprehensible decision in an import-dependent economy

What makes this measure particularly indefensible is Cameroon’s lack of domestic mobile device production. There are no manufacturing plants, no assembly lines, and no announced plans for local alternatives.

Citizens are left with no choice: they must import devices and now face additional taxes for using what they have legally acquired. The absence of alternatives or escape routes means only one outcome: an added financial burden on populations already struggling to afford basic devices.

When a government imposes taxes on imports to protect or stimulate local production, the logic, while debatable, is at least comprehensible. But when there is no industry to protect, no vision for local development, the policy does not foster growth—it simply drains resources.

What’s next? Laptops? Desktops?

The question must be asked: if smartphones are now taxed at 33.33%, what comes next? Will laptops and desktop computers follow? Where does this fiscal trajectory end?

If a basic, widely accessible tool like the smartphone can be subjected to such a tax, there is no guarantee that other digital tools won’t face the same treatment. Each new tax deepens the digital divide, excluding more citizens from the digital economy.

A step backward in a forward-looking world

Most nations are prioritizing digital inclusion to boost productivity and economic competitiveness. A connected population is a productive population, and documented evidence from African development reports confirms this reality.

By making smartphones more expensive, Cameroon is effectively reducing its own competitiveness. If the tax extends to laptops tomorrow, the country may be forfeiting its future.