A growing number of African countries now levy taxes on mobile money transactions. The IMF, the World Bank, and the UN Economic Commission for Africa all reach the same conclusion: it is costing more than it yields. Some governments are changing course. Others are still searching for the right balance.
In Uganda, it all came down to a single budget cycle. A daily levy on social media and digital transactions was introduced. The results, documented by the UN Economic Commission for Africa’s 2026 Economic Report on Africa, were swift: more tha
