The Phenomenal Strength of Mobile Money in Kenya: Tanzania Reduces Levy on its Mobile Money
One in every three Kenyan shillings spent by consumers, businesses, and the government in Kenya in the first 6 months of this year moved through mobile money, cementing the country’s position as a global leader in the mobile money revolution. The latest data published by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) shows that the cash handled by mobile money agents in the first half of the year increased by 17.5% to Sh3.8 tn. The data, which tracks the monthly performance of mobile money, shows growth from Sh3.26 tn over the same period last year. The money, which is mainly handled by Safaricom’s M-Pesa agents, represents 31% of the country’s 2021 gross domestic product (GDP – Sh12 tn). The number of mobile wallets crossed the 70m mark in May and grew to 70.3m at the end of the first half of the year against an adult population of 25m, indicating some people hold multiple subscriptions.
The Tanzanian government has announced that it will reduce its mobile money transaction fees (levy) by a further 43% to ease the burden placed on citizens by providers in a time of rising inflation. Last year, the government’s amendment of the Electronic and Postal Communication Act (CAP 306) imposed a levy of between 0.0043 and $4 on mobile money transactions that came into effect amid public outcries. GSMA did a mobile money levy impact analysis report last year that shows that the introduction of the mobile money levy had an adverse effect on gains the country had previously made in financial inclusion since becoming the first nation in Africa to implement payments interoperability.
Tanzanians were returning to using cash and the government started thinking about how to get them back to mobile money platforms. Despite collecting $28m from the fees since imposing the levy, last September the government yielded to public pressure and reduced the levy by 30%. Even with the latest levy reduction, Tanzania’s mobile money economy is expected to be on a much lower growth trajectory than before the tax was introduced and it is estimated that there has been a 12% contraction in the market compared to pre-tax levels.
6 Comments
Leave a Comment
Become a member
Join the Ecommerce Forum South Africa and benefit from industry insights in South Africa and Africa.
Sign up to newsletter
Sign up to our newsletter and stay informed of the progress we are making at the Ecommerce Forum South Africa with government during Coronavirus.
Can you be more specific about the content of your article? After reading it, I still have some doubts. Hope you can help me.
Your point of view caught my eye and was very interesting. Thanks. I have a question for you.
Thanks for sharing. I read many of your blog posts, cool, your blog is very good. https://www.binance.info/register?ref=P9L9FQKY
Your article helped me a lot, is there any more related content? Thanks!
sân cầu 66b triều khúc tự hào là biểu tượng của sự uy tín và đẳng cấp trong lĩnh vực cá cược trực tuyến tại khu vực Châu Á. Với bề dày kinh nghiệm, chúng tôi mang đến hệ thống bảo mật SSL 128-bit tối tân, đảm bảo mọi giao dịch của quý khách hàng luôn được bảo vệ trong môi trường an toàn tuyệt đối. TONY05-04O
Launching a virgin e-commerce site? You distress a reliable shopify seo checklist or shopify seo expert to make sure you don’t miss critical optimization steps in preference to common live. Proper seo quest of shopify rely on celebrity involves context up Google Search Comfort, optimizing your headings, and fixing duplicate content patterns. Tick all the right-hand boxes antiquated on to turn your mark up in the interest of titanic success.