Tanzania: Dar Leads World in Mobile Money

Tanzania has emerged the leading country in the world in mobile financial services, the World Bank has said in its World Development Report.

According to the WB, Tanzania is leading the world in providing low interest loans through mobile phones as well as being one of the biggest markets in the world for providing mobile money services.

The report also recognised the government efforts in putting in place high level standards of Information Communication Technology (ICT) systems compared to other countries in the world.

Kenya is also recognised as the leading country in sending money through its mobile money system, M-Pesa, an area that has in the last few years been dominated by rich countries in the world.

"This is a very good example from Africa, which can be emulated by all countries in the world," the bank's Chief Economist, Profesor Kaushik Basu, said when presenting a summary of the report recently.

Prof Basu made the presentation on Monday at the Heads of State meeting at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York, United States. The meeting focused on the Digital Age, which is part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) whose deadline is this year.

Speaking in the meeting which was also attended by President Jakaya Kikwete, Estonian President, Toomas Hendrik Ilves and the WB President, Dr Jim Kim, Prof Basu said the world is in the midst of technology changes, whose effects cannot yet be fathomed.

"We are in the middle of major technological revolutions, whose effects are hard to comprehend. These (mobile money services) are matters that a few years ago, did not even have a name, but now internet and digital technology is changing lives of people both socially and politically," he explained.

He added said in just a day, about 4.2 billion people do research on google in a day, every second people post 6,000 tweets, with the highest posts in 2013 where 143,199 tweets were posted per one second during a film.

"The M-Pesa mobile money service where people deposit their money or send money in Kenya is now competing with similar systems in rich countries in the world. In every 1,000 adults, there are 700 M-Pesa accounts in Kenya, which is an increase of 103 from 2013," he explained.

Prof Basu added Tanzania has invested a lot in ICT and mobile money systems enabling transfers and distribution of money, adding that Tanzania is a big market in the world for sending money using mobile phones.

"Tanzania is now the leading country in the world in providing mobile money services, giving low interest loans through mobile phone services. These are examples that other countries in the world can emulate from Africa," he noted.

Meanwhile, President Kikwete yesterday met and held talks with Queen Maxima of The Netherlands and wife of King Willem-Alexander, on how the Netherlands can assist Tanzania in speeding up efforts to improve financial services through ICT.

SOURCE:Tanzania Daily news