Deputy Governor of Financial Stability and Access at the Bank of Tanzania, Lila Mkilla delivering a key note address to invited dignitaries during the launching of GIS Census of Financial Access Points 2013 at the Central Bank Conference Centre in Dar es Salaam. (All Photos by Zainul Mzige).
Over 12 million Tanzanians are now using mobile financial services- Survey
By Damas Makangale, MOblog Tanzania
The National Financial Inclusion Framework (FINSCOPE) 2013, has shown that more than half of the adult population of Tanzania have access to financial services and over 12 million Tanzanians are now using mobile devices to remit, save, borrow and pay bills.
Speaking to invited dignitaries during the launching of the 2013 Gis Census of Financial Access Points key findings in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Tanzania, Financial Stability and Access, Lila Mkilla said that the majority of Tanzanians are using mobile financial service.
“Today’s findings will show the infrastructure behind this and how convenient it is for users. This challenges us to move beyond numbers and push for equitable distribution of access points,” he said.
He went on to say that the changes in their financial supply landscape have been brought by the creative use of innovation and technology driven by mobile network operators throughout the country.
David Taylor GIS Mapping and Analysis Specialist gives his presentation of the key findings during the launching of Financial Access Points 2013.
“FINSCOPE also showed that that over six million adults use mobile money services to save or keep money. This is largely driven by the distribution infrastructure that mobile network operators have invested in.
Deputy Governor Mkilla noted FINSCOPE has also identified four core drivers of financial inclusion in Tanzania-proximity, payments, store of value and information and set targets for 2016.
“We know that banks have been involved with the mobile network operators to introduce new products and improve through mobile technology.
“The question remains however, what about the banks’ own customers? Have their needs been met? Tanzania has the second smallest proportion of banked adults amongst our African neighbours according to FINSCOPE 2013, it is clear banks have to do more,” he underscored.
Some of the participants listens attentively to the presentations.
He explained further that the Bank of Tanzania would be using Financial Access Maps findings to inform its various initiatives in improving the policy and regulatory environment as well as understanding the trends in financial inclusion in Tanzania.
Moreover, The National Financial Inclusion Framework launched in December 2013 by the Bank of Tanzania set a proximity target of “25 percent of Tanzanians live within 5km of a financial access point by 2016”.
The Financial Access Map 2013 findings show that now 45 percent of Tanzanians live within 5km of a financial access point.
The region with the highest proximity is Dar es Salaam where 100 percent of the population lives within 5 km of a financial access point while Zanzibar has the lowest proximity overall.
The new findings show that there are currently 55,927 cash points in the whole of Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar. These comprise of bank infrastructure, including branches of commercial and community banks and ATMs, Microfinance Institutions branches, mobile money agents and third party payment provider and Points of Sales.
Mobile money and Point of Sale/3rd Party Payment Providers have completely transformed the delivery of financial services accounting for 93 percent of all access points.
While banks are more likely to be found within a kilometer of one another, mobile money providers have a wider delivery but even then most financial access points distribution largely following road and electricity infrastructure.
Sosthenes Kewe, Technical Director at FSDT gives his presentation about the high level findings of the financial access points in Tanzania and Zanzibar.
The Financial Access Maps 2013 now gives us the ability to track changes that have occurred over the past year and developing trends.
Furthermore, since financial access points have been mapped in other countries including Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria, we now have the opportunity of comparing our efforts with those of our neighbors.
Mike McCaffrey, Head of Digital Finance Africa at Micro Save gives his presentation on Health and profitability of agent networks in Tanzania.
Ms Rose Njeri Ng’ang’a from Agriculture Insurance presents her paper on Monitoring and Evaluation Kilimo Salama during the official launching of the GIS Census of Financial Access Points 2013.
Deputy Governor of the Bank of Tanzania, Lila Mkilla exchange views with invited dignitaries after the official launching of the Financial Access Points 2013 in Dar es Salaam at the BOT, Conference Centre.
Some of the invited dignitaries exchanges views.