Tanzanians are leading the world in using mobile phones to pay and receive money, World Bank Chief Economist, Prof Kaushik Basu has said according to a State House statement.
Giving a glimpse of what is contained in the next World Development Report due for release later this year, Prof Basu said the country has invested heavily in information communication technology in recent years.
“Tanzania is now the leading country globally in terms of mobile money payments, loan disbursement and paying interest to depositors,” he said at a meeting attended by President Jakaya Kikwete at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
He said Tanzania and neighbouring Kenya have done a lot in adopting ICT and mobile phone payments, something which a few years ago was a preserve of rich nations of the North.
“Today, Tanzania is the largest single market in terms of mobile phone payments,” the Indian born economist pointed out.
He commended the government for its commitment to invest in digitisation, saying ICT is one of the most efficient tools in bringing about development.
“This is an outstanding example from Africa which can be followed by other developing countries,” he pointed out.
“This is an outstanding example from Africa which can be followed by other developing countries,” he pointed out.
According to a Bank of Tanzania (BoT) official, records show that there are more than 25 million subscribers with access to M-Pesa, Tigo Pesa, Airtel Money and Easy Pesa of which nine million are active users of the accounts undertaking at least a transaction per month.
The four leading mobile phone firms have a combined force of an estimated 40,000 agents country-wide.
“Recent statistics show that Tanzania is experiencing a mobile money revolution almost as remarkable as that of neighbouring Kenya. In just four years, from 2009 to 2013, the usage of non-bank formal financial services, mainly mobile financial services, increased from just under 7 percent to almost 44 percent, bringing the rate of financial inclusion from around 16 percent to close to 58 percent as per Financial Sector Deepening Trust.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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