A new research by a top Tanzanian university says half the population in that country is now using the mobile phone.
The research team, led by Prof Ophelia Mascarenhas of the University of Dar es Salaam supported by Dr. Raphael Mmasi and Dr. Hezron Makundi of the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), said the use of mobile phones in the country was so widespread at present that businesses were now run without offices, visiting cards, or large capital investments. All that was needed to run a business in that country was a handset, they said.
The findings by the research team at the University of Dar es Salaam however warn mobile phone companies to consider a more serious approach to mobile banking services, where they argue there is “great potential for ‘banking the unbankable.”
The said: “It is time to address the more serious aspect of the mobile phone – through mobile banking … it is of no use to the poor to be able to ask for help if the help in the form of remittance of cash cannot be made because the service is still not available in both the urban and rural areas.”
The Tanzanian study is part of four-nation initiative code-named PICTURE-Africa. The other countries currently doing similar studies are Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda – all financed by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
Tanzania’s mobile phone boom has largely been attributed to a combination of low purchasing cost and easier access across the country’s urban and rural areas. COSTECH is the host for Tanzania.
Malawi launches mobile banking
(http://www.africanbusinessreview.co.za/sectors/mobile-computing/malawi-launches-mobile-banking)
Mobile internet booms in SA
(http://www.africanbusinessreview.co.za/sectors/mobile-computing/mobile-internet-booms-sa)
The research team, led by Prof Ophelia Mascarenhas of the University of Dar es Salaam supported by Dr. Raphael Mmasi and Dr. Hezron Makundi of the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), said the use of mobile phones in the country was so widespread at present that businesses were now run without offices, visiting cards, or large capital investments. All that was needed to run a business in that country was a handset, they said.
The findings by the research team at the University of Dar es Salaam however warn mobile phone companies to consider a more serious approach to mobile banking services, where they argue there is “great potential for ‘banking the unbankable.”
The said: “It is time to address the more serious aspect of the mobile phone – through mobile banking … it is of no use to the poor to be able to ask for help if the help in the form of remittance of cash cannot be made because the service is still not available in both the urban and rural areas.”
The Tanzanian study is part of four-nation initiative code-named PICTURE-Africa. The other countries currently doing similar studies are Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda – all financed by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
Tanzania’s mobile phone boom has largely been attributed to a combination of low purchasing cost and easier access across the country’s urban and rural areas. COSTECH is the host for Tanzania.
Malawi launches mobile banking
(http://www.africanbusinessreview.co.za/sectors/mobile-computing/malawi-launches-mobile-banking)
Mobile internet booms in SA
(http://www.africanbusinessreview.co.za/sectors/mobile-computing/mobile-internet-booms-sa)
