Kikwete graces M-Pawa event

GLAMOUR: Models turn their backs to present M-Pawa with glitz.

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania - Tanzania mobile money transactions topped Tsh2 trillion ( about $1.22 billion), mostly due to the competition among network companies to be more creative.

“As what you can see, this service is now doing very huge transactions which means the innovation can play a very big part to foster economic development and boosting businesses,” President Jakaya Kikwete said recently when launching M-Pawa.

This latest service from Vodacom will allow millions of Tanzanians to save and borrow money using their mobile phones. M-Pawa, which is an initiative being operated jointly by Vocadom Tanzania and Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA), allows customers to save money, withdrawal or take out a loan.

The Managing Director of Vodacom Tanzania, Rene Meza told East African Business Week, said, “Through this scheme, customers can open bank accounts by simply accessing the M-Pesa menu on their phone and selecting M-Pawa.”

He said the service does not demand ledger fees, limits on the frequency of withdrawals, minimum operating balances and charges on deposits and withdrawals from M-Pesa to M-Pawa account and vice versa.

Commenting on the threat of cybercrime, Kikwete said the government is now looking into various ways to create a very strong security system.

“I have ordered responsible authorities to create a very strong security system which will be able to control as well as crackdown cyber- crime,” he said.

He said the launch of M-Pawa is a testament to the success of the reforms have made in the financial sector, coupled with heavy investment by the mobile companies.

By Leonard Magomba, Sunday, May 25th, 2014


SHARE: