TANZANIA: A SURGE in mobile money accounts highlights the critical role digital payment systems are playing in Tanzania’s developing digital economy, according to the latest communications sector status report.
Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), April-June 2024 communications statistics, show that mobile money accounts have nearly doubled in five years.
The report showed that in three months to June, the mobile money accounts jumped up by five per cent surpassing the entire last year.
The accounts doubled from 25,864,318 in 2019 to 52,875,129 in last year
The report showed that number in the first half of this year has already surpassed the entire accounts registered last year after it jumped to 55,523,067 at the end of June.
These accounts transaction increased by 74.5 per cent in the last five years to 5,273,086,154 transactions at the end of June from 3,021,142,958 in 2019. This is a 19 per cent annual growth rate.
TCRA licences mobile telecommunications service providers who offer mobile money services. The Bank of Tanzania (BoT), the country’s financial sector regulator, also licenced the operators.
Additionally, on quarterly basis, the mobile money subscriptions increased by five per cent from 53 million accounts in April to 56 million in June. The accounts made 295,244,609 transactions in June and 295,244,609 in April.
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The M-Pesa is leading the pack with 20,677,223 subscribers, followed by Tigo Pesa with 17,827,565 and Airtel Money with 11,028,579. Then followed by Halopesa with 4,567,319 and T-Pesa 1,422,381 accounts.
Azam Pesa increased its subscribers by 258 per cent – from 52,560 in March to 187,691 in April.
Mobile money subscriptions refer to all active SIM cards with mobile money service accounts that have been used at least once in the past three months.
Transactions are the number of deposits and transfers among accounts in the corresponding period.
The ten-year Tanzania Digital Economy Strategic Framework, to be implemented between this year and 2034, lists digital financial services as among the pillars of a digital economy.
Others are enabling digital infrastructure and technologies that promote inclusion, good governance, digital literacy and skills development, and a digital innovation culture.
