President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo has ordered the implementation of the country’s universal service fund (USF) within “a reasonable timeframe”.
CommsUpdate reports that the fund was created in October 2002 via framework law No. 013/2002 with the goal of delivering mobile connectivity to the majority of the country’s population. It accrues funds via a 3% levy on operator revenue – and these funds have thus far not been utilised.
Tshisekedi argues that this inaction has made “effective management” of the funds impossible, and has now ordered that the money be used to finance infrastructure initiatives to enable widespread and affordable access to ICT that reflects the “current configuration of the digital ecosystem.”