In Guinea-Bissau, in order to acquire a license to operate a television station with national reach, it is necessary to pay more than 800,000 dollars | Photo: Specialist in Judicial Execution
With a GDP of just over 1.5 billion dollars, Guinea-Bissau is easily the smallest economy in West Africa. In fact, in any ranking of the nominal GDP of the countries in the sub-region, the former Portuguese colony would rank 14 places below Nigeria, the largest economy in West Africa.
Guinea-Bissau would also be 13 places below Ghana, which is the second largest economy in West Africa, with a GDP of over 78 billion dollars, and 12 places below Ivory Coast, which is the third largest economy in West Africa, with a GDP of over 68 billion dollars.
However, there is a glaring irony in the fact that Guinea-Bissau has the most expensive broadcasting license regime in West Africa.
Acquiring a license will cost anyone who wants to create a commercial television channel with national coverage 500 million CFA francs (more than US$800,000). In the case of commercial radio with national coverage, a license would cost the investor 10,000,000 CFA francs (US$16,000).
In addition, it costs 125 million CFA francs (US$207,584.11) to renew a television license and 2.5 million CFA francs (US$4,077.23) to renew a radio license.
Compared to the largest West African economies, acquiring a television license in Guinea-Bissau costs more than US$750,000 than in Nigeria, where the highest fee for any broadcasting license is NGN20 million (US$43,431).
It also costs around 791,000 dollars more to acquire a television broadcasting license in Guinea-Bissau than in Ghana, where a license to operate a television costs around GHC105,000 (US$8,200).
Compared to Côte d’Ivoire, it costs almost four times as much to acquire a license to operate a private commercial television station in Guinea-Bissau.
Below is a tabular representation of how Guinea-Bissau’s new license fees compare with other countries in the West African sub-region.
Cost of license to operate TV and Radio stations in four West African countries
|
Country |
TV license (US$) |
Radio License (US$) |
| Guinea-Bissau | 816,547.50 | 16, 606.73 |
| Nigeria | Lagos/Riverside State
Open Signal – 32,573 Cable – 21,715.74 Outside Lagos/Riverside 16,287.71 |
43,431.49 |
| Ghana | 8,200 | – |
| Ivory Coast | 166,067.29 | 16,606.73 |
In the case of license renewals too, the figures of 125 million CFA francs (US$207,584.11) for television every two years and 2.5 million CFA francs (US$4,077.23) for radio compare strikingly.
Cost of license renewal in three West African countries
|
Country |
TV ($) |
Radio ($) |
Duration (Years) |
| Guinea-Bissau | 207,584.11 | 4,077.23 | 2 |
| Nigeria | 10,857.87 | 10,857.87 | 5 |
| Ghana | 2,366.68 | – | 2 |
(Note: Côte d’Ivoire does not have renewal rates readily available)
This makes Guinea-Bissau’s commercial broadcasting license around 18 times more expensive than the average broadcast license in the rest of the sub-region.
But that wasn’t usually the case
This exorbitant licensing regime in West Africa’s smallest economy is new – it came into force in 2022 as part of the provisions of a new law N-13/2022 that was adopted by the Cabinet in 2022.
Before the fee for acquiring an initial license for commercial television was increased to 500 million CFA francs, it was 7 million CFA francs. The increase is more than 7000%. Similarly, the renewal fee has risen from 1 million to 125 million CFA francs.
The price of a license to operate a radio station with national coverage has also risen from 1.5 million CFA francs to 10 million, with the renewal for this category increasing by 900%, from 250,000 CFA francs to 2.5 million.
For community/religious radio, the initial license fee has increased from 250,000 CFA francs to 3 million CFA francs. The renewal fee has also increased from 250,000 francs to 750,000 francs.
Doing to the media what the government doesn’t want for itself
The government has said that the new taxes are intended to help raise funds to build the economy and also to develop the media. But, as the MFWA points out, these fees can only be a stranglehold on an already struggling media in Guinea-Bissau.
In addition, the new rates were announced at a time when the country was still under attack from COVID-19, a pandemic that led Guinea-Bissau’s neighboring government, Guinea-Conakry, to increase subsidies to its press.
COVID has had a negative impact on the economy, causing negative GDP growth of 1.4% in 2020. As a result, the country received 9.8 million dollars from the African Development Fund in 2020 and an assistance package of more than 20 million dollars from the IMF in 2021.
It remains a blatant irony that a government that has had to rely on the goodwill of others to meet the challenges of COVID-19 is imposing astronomical broadcasting fees on its already struggling media.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has already pointed out that the new tax regime is unrealistic and oppressive. We reiterate this obvious fact and once again urge the government to drastically reduce it.
