08 July 2022

 

 

Mobile money (MoMo) subscribers in Tanzania will be much better off after the government said it would reduce mobile money transaction fees by 43%.

In efforts to raise its revenue collections the government in 2021 imposed a tax on mobile money causing an outcry from the public.

However, Tanzania’s finance and planning minister Mwigulu Nchemba said in parliament on June 14, while presenting the national budget for financial year 2022/23, that the government was taking steps to help MoMo users.

“I propose, amendments to the National Payment System Act, CAP 437 by reducing mobile money transaction levy on sending and withdrawing monies from a maximum of Sh7,000 currently to a maximum of Sh4,000 on each transaction,” he said. “Along with that, I propose to extend the base and include all electronic transactions. This measure is intended to reduce the cost of living for Tanzanians, especially during the current period of ongoing economic crisis, and to rationalise the transaction levy.”

Meanwhile, Tanzania has registered 3.2 million more mobile money subscribers in the first quarter of 2022. The country had 35.7 million subscribers as of March 2022, which was up from 32.5 million in January, according to a report.

“Figures show an increase in the use of mobile financial services in the country, which has been increasing year after year or every quarter,” the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) said in its first quarter report released at the end of May.