Maputo, Nov. 29, 2024 (Lusa) - Around 7.8 million Mozambicans have access to Internet services in the country, the government announced on Friday, promising efforts to further expand the services on offer.

"3G [third generation] coverage is at 84%, the connected population is only 7.8 million, our population is 32 [million people] and in no time it will be 60 million," said the minister of transport and communications, Mateus Magala, during the launch in Maputo of the ʽinternet for allʼ project, an initiative that aims to expand access to more Mozambicans by 2030.

The government official said that the approximately 7.8 million people with internet access in Mozambique do not meet the government's targets, recognising the need to expand services in a context of accelerated growth in the Mozambican population.

"The 7.8 million is not what we would like now (...). The population without access to the fundamental tool for participating in the digital economy, which is the internet, stands at 73%," he said, calling for society to participate in expanding the network.

"Our goal is for inclusive digital economy based on digital services. It's not for an elite, it's for everyone. As I said, all Mozambicans must have equal access to the digital economy," added Mateus Magala.

The government's ʽinternet for allʼ project to expand access by 2030, launched today, is budgeted at around $1.7 billion (€1.6 billion), with the government ensuring that it already has "almost" half of the necessary funds.

PYME/ADB // ADB.

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