(Ecofin Agency) - Mali's Minister of Communication and Digital Economy Hamadoun Touré (pictured) announced on May 9 the government is mulling over opening the telecom market to a fourth mobile operator if the prices of telecom services remain expensive. According to maliweb.net, he said this on the sidelines of the digital week to be held from 17 to 24 May.

Hamadoun Toure said the government has discussed a reduction in service costs with operators but concrete results are yet to be seen. He believes that lowering costs will not lead to a decrease in operators’ profits, but will rather increase them with the higher number of users to be attracted.

Demand for affordable quality connectivity has grown in Mali as in many African countries and the government wants to make internet accessible to every Malian. In its "Worldwide Mobile Data Pricing 2021: The Cost of 1GB of Mobile Data in 230 Countries" report, Cable.co.uk puts Mali in the bracket of African countries where the average cost of a gigabit is still quite expensive. That's $3.28.

With more affordable data, Hamadoun Touré is certain that the government will be able to achieve its ambition of making Mali one of the top 10 most digitized countries on the continent. Better access to the Internet will contribute to economic development, notably by supporting the development of the innovation industry, job creation, etc.

Muriel Edjo