THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION HAS A PROFOUND IMPACT ON TANZANIA’S ECONOMY

It is well known that the digital revolution has had a profound impact on people’s daily lives in recent years.

Fortunately, these changes have brought a range of opportunities and also present Tanzania with a useful tool for harnessing further economic growth.

In particular, in its recent report, the World Bank highlighted that the evolution of digital technology is likely to bring further changes to the way people work across a range of industries. Their analysis noted that digital solutions are helping to innovate areas including mobile finance and digital commerce solutions.

It should be noted that for some years now, digitalization has become a key trend within Tanzania, and cities like Dar es Salaam have seen their technological ecosystems go from strength to strength.

The growth of this area has partly been the result of efforts made by Tanzania’s telecommunication sector to invest in different emerging trends. Collectively, this investment is having tangible benefits for both workers and businesses.

To take one example, Tigo Tanzania’s mobile money service – Tigo Pesa – has provided many businesses with a fast and efficient means of depositing, withdrawing and sending money. Without the need to visit a bank in-person, business owners can keep track of their finances and make payments to suppliers with relative ease.

In addition, Tigo Business – which has been specifically tailored to meet the needs of small and medium-sized businesses – has been helping businesses and their employees harness potential economic opportunities. For example, access to reliable mobile internet and broadband has had a positive impact on helping businesses advertise their goods and services, as well as communicate with their employees.

While these benefits have been enjoyed by Tigo customers for some time now, it is hoped that they will soon also be experienced by Zantel customers.

The two operators announced their intention to merge at the end of last year. Once the merger between the two companies is completed, customers from the two operators will be able to enjoy the services provided by both. This means Zantel customers will soon have access to services including Tigo Pesa and Tigo Business.

The merger is expected to be finalised shortly and customers will soon have access to the services that come from the combined strength of the two companies.

Hopefully the wait will not be long.

Kida Nzogere, 

DIT.