Mobile phone network expansion rises

MOBILE phone network has reached 95 per cent of Tanzanians some two decades since the service was launched, lifting the level of financial inclusion to 65 per cent.

The financial penetration went up 7.0 percentage points higher than the value recorded in 2013, as highlighted in the recently published Finscope 2017 Survey. According to NMB Bank Market Digest for third quarter, 93 per cent of adult Tanzanians have access to a mobile phone. “In the year 2000, none of us would have thought that this would be the case two decades later.

It was simply unimaginable,” the author of the Digest, Caroline Yambesi, said. The penetration was enabled through extensive mobile network where over 40 million subscribers were registered by end of June - though some have more than one sim-card.

Tanzania has seven mobile network operators led by Vodacom, Tigo and Airtel. “Technology, increasingly used by banks and mobile money operators, has become an important catalyst for financial inclusion in Tanzania and Africa in general,” the Digest released recently said.

In recognising the importance of utilising alternative transaction channels to promote financial inclusion, the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) has smoothened procedures to allow for linkages between banks and mobile money operators.

“These links have enabled many to transact easily and safely through digital channels. “… Many banks have collaborated with MNOs and have developed in-house mobile solutions,” she said.

The Digest quoted the Survey that was conducted by FSDT in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Bank of Tanzania (BoT) and other partners.

The 2017 Survey is the fourth of its kind done over the past ten years. Even with these developments, NMB said, however, there is still much to be done to ensure that more people trust and utilise formal channels for daily transactions.

“At present, 43 per cent of adults still prefer to save at home while more than half 69 per cent choose to borrow from family and friends,” the bank’s digest said.

With a total population of over 50 million people, the country is blessed with a large number of current and future consumers