Interoperability – Page 12 – HiPipo Foundation

January 15, 2024

DPO Pay is enabling Online and Offline Payments. 40 Days 40 FinTechs Tanzania Day 29

Minus channelling a lot of resources towards product development, companies also spend quite a lot on marketing and sales. But then after doing all of this, many companies struggle to collect payments due to either the absence of effective payment tools or ignorance about the seamless payment tools available on the market.

This is where DPO Pay comes in handy. DPO Pay has over the years established itself as a preferred payment solution for major merchants across Africa. It integrates with the most popular payment methods across Africa, allowing customers to choose from credit and debit cards, and mobile money among others.

Janeth Kwilasa, the Country Manager of DPO Pay Tanzania noted that DPO Pay is a financial technology solution that helps businesses to receive payments online and offline from anywhere in the world, anytime.

“We offer Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and big multinationals from across Africa a solution and technology that enables them to receive online and offline payments wherever they want. Our robust payment engine supports global currencies and various payment methods. We are trusted by over 60,000 businesses across Africa with a presence in 21 countries. We are Africa’s as well as the Middle East’s favourite way of accepting payments online. The businesses we support can collect various methods of payment including Cards and Mobile Money in all the countries we operate in,” Janeth Kwilasa said.

She added: “Currently in Tanzania, we are integrated with all the six mobile money operators. This enables us to support the local Tanzanian businesses.”

Kwilasa noted that their presence in multiple countries means a need to be compliant with different regulations.

“In Tanzania, we are regulated by the Central Bank of Tanzania and Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority. We are also locally registered with the different entities as established by the Tanzanian government.”

She noted that low uptake of technology, limited internet penetration and low usage of smartphones are some of the main challenges that DPO Pay is facing in Tanzania.

We interacted with DPO Pay on Day 29 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for Tanzania. First implemented in Uganda, 40 Days 40 FinTechs is an annual FinTech Innovation initiative presented by HiPipo to recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations who are making significant strides in promoting financial inclusivity through the use of technology.

It is aimed at promoting innovation and collaboration among FinTechs in Africa. The initiative is designed to provide FinTechs and startups with mentorship, training, exposure, and networking opportunities to help them grow and scale their businesses.

“It is important that projects such as 40 Days 40 FinTechs are done as they provide more information about the available technology, existing companies, their services, competence and the opportunities available. This helps close the knowledge gap and builds trust for local FinTechs,” Kwilasa said.

40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative Tanzania is part of HiPipo’s broader Include EveryOne Program that is generously supported by the Gates Foundation and implemented in partnership with Level One Project, ICTC Tanzania, Ideation Corner, Cyber PLC Academy, INFITX, Crosslake Technologies, NG Films, Founders Academy and Mojaloop Foundation.

The Include EveryOne program is a beacon of acceleration of FinTech Innovation, empowerment for Women in FinTech and a catalyst for investment and development in the ICT sector. Minus 40 Days 40 FinTechs, other initiatives under the Include EveryOne Program are the FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit and Incubator, Digital Impact Awards Africa and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit. HiPipo is recognized as a premier advocate of digital Innovation and financial inclusion champion, a fervent proponent of the #LevelOneProject. HiPipo has been at the forefront, actively promoting digital innovation, Instant, Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), and DFS across Africa. With a legacy of advising, mobilizing, and facilitating the adoption of inclusive financial services, HiPipo’s efforts have been nothing short of transformative! For almost two decades, HiPipo has successfully facilitated the inclusive adoption of these crucial services.

January 14, 2024

EMakato is simplifying Payments’ Collection. 40 Days 40 FinTechs Tanzania Day 28

One of the key challenges faced by credit-offering institutions is payments’ collection. Many customers fail to pay promptly because they don’t have the funds while others may have the funds but are simply unwilling to comply. This is further worsened by the hard economic times currently witnessed globally.

However, innovators are using technology to address some of these issues. One of the tools being used in Tanzania to support payments’ collections is eMakato; a platform that allows service providers and financial institutions to automate their payment collection processes; interfacing with their customers to promote a unified procedure and digitally enhance customer experience.

This platform helps service providers to digitize the entire process of payment collections; from creating mandates, alerts, monitors and thus collecting payments seamlessly. It further reduces the cost of collection, minimizes errors, and improves security and accuracy by eliminating manual collection processes.

Nicholaus Ngolongolo, the Co-Founder and CTO of Solo Codes Africa, noted that the broken trust among creditors and borrowers inspired them to develop eMakato.

“The collection methods that existed before were ineffective, so we developed eMakato. To sign up on our platform, for every company, because we serve the company not individuals, they visit our website and contact us. Once the company contacts us, we share the minimum requirements required to complete the sign-up process. The minimum requirement we need from companies to subscribe to our platform is a proper KYC – company name and all registration documents,” Ngolongolo said.

He added: “After submitting this information, we create your account and your staff can now access our services. The company staff now have a mandate to set a debit instruction for each customer. Through our platform, once the creditor inputs the borrower’s information, a debit instruction is set which cannot be removed by the borrower.”

Several financial institutions are already using eMakato in Tanzania. These include CRDB Bank, NMB Bank, TIGO and others.

Ngolongolo noted that the main challenges they are facing include prolonged discussions and delayed sign-up closure, shortage of funds for massive product roll-out and low technology adoption.

We interacted with eMakato on Day 28 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for Tanzania. First implemented in Uganda, 40 Days 40 FinTechs is an annual FinTech Innovation initiative presented by HiPipo to recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations who are making significant strides in promoting financial inclusivity through the use of technology.

“We are excited to be part of this year’s 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative. This project is doing a great job for start-ups. We want to expand nationwide and also grow to different markets. We are sure that 40 Days 40 FinTechs will support this by creating more awareness about our solution across Africa,” Ngolongolo noted.

HiPipo is recognized as a premier advocate of digital Innovation and financial inclusion champion, a fervent proponent of the #LevelOneProject. HiPipo has been at the forefront, actively promoting digital innovation, Instant, Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), and DFS across Africa. With a legacy of advising, mobilizing, and facilitating the adoption of inclusive financial services, HiPipo’s efforts have been nothing short of transformative! For almost two decades, HiPipo has successfully facilitated the inclusive adoption of these crucial services.

January 13, 2024

Zudua is using E-commerce to deliver convenience to customers. 40 Days 40 FinTechs Tanzania Day 27

Even though eCommerce platforms have been around for decades, they were not very popular in Africa until 2020, when the unfortunate COVID-19 pandemic happened.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought e-commerce platforms to the forefront as the world searched for safe and convenient ways of shopping.

Since then, eCommerce has been a fast-growing business around globally. E-commerce has since grown to a USD 26.7 trillion business and contributes 30 per cent of GDP globally. In Tanzania, one of the fastest-growing eCommerce platforms is Zudua.

According to Fatema Hussein Dewji, the Zudua Head of Marketing, the platform functions like a normal marketplace; enabling the buying and selling of products throughout Tanzania.

“We have various stores such as mobile, home, schools, fashion and special occasions. We have everything that you would require in your day-to-day life. We also have Zudua services that allow our customers to purchase things like vouchers and tickets. We are giving a platform to sellers to be able to reach a bigger market while also helping buyers find their favourite items without moving from one store to another. Everything is in one place,” Fatema Hussein Dewji said.

She added: “When you log in, you simply select your products, add them to the cart and their total cost will be indicated. You can then proceed with making your payment either through Bank Cards, Mobile Money or Cash on Delivery. Obviously, in Dar es Salaam, you will have an option of cash on delivery but outside Dar es Salaam, the option for cash is not there. Once you pay, you get a digital receipt and we also get a confirmation that payment has been made. We then proceed with the delivery. Buyers can find out where their products are through the tracking codes we share with them.”

Fatema noted that while eCommerce is picking up in Tanzania, they still face challenges of limited trust from customers and unclear location information.

“Customers appreciate going to physical stores to see the actual goods they are buying and if they are worth the money they are spending. The other challenge is that customers usually don’t put the right physical addresses; so, to get to them, the delivery team has to call multiple times.”

Zudua interacted with HiPipo on Day 27 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for Tanzania. First implemented in Uganda, 40 Days 40 FinTechs is an annual FinTech Innovation initiative presented by HiPipo to recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations who are making significant strides in promoting financial inclusivity through the use of technology.

January 12, 2024

Ramani is building modern financial infrastructure for Africa’s supply chains. 40 Days 40 FinTechs Tanzania Day 26

Tanzanian FinTech company, Ramani is leading the transformation of Africa’s supply chains through the development of the latest technology financial infrastructure.

Founded in 2019, Ramani is focused on fixing fragmented consumer goods supply chains that traditionally suffer from a lack of data visibility and are burdened by limited access to financial services. It fixes this by providing tech-enabled inventory management systems, procurement, and point-of-sale software to digitize the processes of companies thus helping them gain real-time sales insights and inventory visibility.

According to Iain Usiri, a Co-Founder and CEO of Ramani, the company offers procurement, inventory management and financing services.

“We work with producers of fast-moving consumer goods to provide their distributors with 30-day terms on inventory. We digitize those distributors with our technology. We give them a point-of-sale application, an inventory management application and a procurement application that allows them to digitize their operations. From that, we use that data to provide them with working capital financing for their inventory,” Usiri said.

He added: “We have built a point of sale (POS) application that is used by salespeople when they go to the market to record their sales. Every time they sell, they input the transactions into the POS and then print a receipt for that customer. The point of sale works in English and Swahili, online and offline.”

Usiri noted that their procurement application is integrated through WhatsApp and thus accessible on mobile phones anywhere, anytime.

“We have integrated and purely digitized inflows, storage and outflows for these distributors. We bring efficiencies to them but also get real-time data which is valuable for us to provide our latest offering which is loans and financing. Once you are digitized, you submit your KYC and your contracts and then we will underwrite you. We will set for you a credit limit and you can procure within that limit,” Usiri said, adding:

“For example, if we set for you a limit of USD 50,000, you can procure from for example Coca Cola products worth USD 50,000, we pay Coca-Cola on day zero, Coca-Cola delivers to you, you sell using our software and you pay the USD 50,000 back after 30 days plus a commission.”

He noted that Ramani has over the last three years been growing at an average of about 32 per cent every month, a fact that comes with several opportunities and challenges. He noted that the main challenge they faced was hiring the best talent.

“The biggest challenge we have faced is culture; where people feel like they want job security and they prefer working for big companies that have been around for decades. People forgo opportunity and go for security.”

We interacted with Ramani on Day 26 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for Tanzania. First implemented in Uganda, 40 Days 40 FinTechs is an annual FinTech Innovation initiative presented by HiPipo to recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations who are making significant strides in promoting financial inclusivity through the use of technology.

Usiri noted that the 40 Days 40 FinTechs platform is helping FinTechs build trust among regulators, investors and end-users.

“Telling our stories through 40 Days 40 FinTechs helps us build trust. Potential investors will get to know more about what we are doing. They learn more about us and trust us more. Eventually, we shall get more investors and more customers. The impact of such an initiative is huge.”

January 11, 2024

Mipango APP is spearheading Financial Literacy for Youth and Women. 40 Days 40 FinTechs Tanzania Day 25

It is not unusual that you will have TZS 100,000 in the morning and by evening you will have spent it all. This is so because while making more is hard, managing this money after earning is even much harder.

But that is where technology comes in handy. Innovators have developed several tools to spearhead prudent financial management, and financial literacy and eventually enhance financial inclusion efforts. One of the tools cultivating the financial literacy culture in Tanzania is Mipango FinTech.

Mipango FinTech, also known as Mipango App is an AI-enabled Personal Finance App for the African Market. It enables users to track their income and expenses, set financial goals and get personalized financial advice and investment opportunities.

“We enable our customers to be able to manage their finances in terms of being able to track their budgets, and their goals as well as get personalized financial advice. The application is available on both Android and IOS platforms. We have chosen the segment of personal finance because we believe that for someone to attain financial literacy, they must be able to manage their finances,” Agness Mollel, the Co-Founder and COO of Mipango FinTech said, adding:

“From an African perspective, managing personal finance is something you get to learn probably once you are at work. We believe that if we try to change people’s behaviours of managing finance from the early age of eighteen, we would be able to drive behaviour change in terms of saving and investments and attain financial literacy and inclusion at the end of that. Our target audience is the Youth and Women”

Mollel noted that they are diversifying the Mipango platform to also offer loans and payment services to customers.

“We are building a feature which will enable our customers to be able to access loans within the platform through their credit score as well as enable them to be able to spend through the application. We are creating an e-wallet feature to support this,” she said.

The HiPipo Team interacted with Mipango FinTech on Day 25 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for Tanzania. First implemented in Uganda, 40 Days 40 FinTechs is an annual FinTech Innovation initiative presented by HiPipo to recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations who are making significant strides in promoting financial inclusivity through the use of technology.

January 10, 2024

Laina is using FinTech to grow Customers’ Purchasing Power. 40 Days 40 FinTechs Tanzania Day 24

Customers are always looking out for new gadgets and the latest devices so that to keep up with the fast-moving world.

While the demand for new gadgets, devices and accessories is never-ending, the prices are always a turn-off. These products are not only expensive but most of the stores require customers to make full payments for any purchase.

Nonetheless, technology is addressing some of these challenges. Thanks to financial technology, customers are now able to get access to their favourite products on credit, commit to periodic instalment payments and fully own the products when the entire payment is down.

Among the pioneers of this buy now and pay later business model in Tanzania is Laina Finance; an integrated non-deposit-taking micro-finance service provider that extends payment plans for the purchases of goods and services by allowing customers to pay over a period of three to nine months. It offers micro-finance payment plans for electronic devices (smartphones and other home gadgets) and insurance policies. The platform offers flexible payment options that let customers buy what they want when they want it.

Founded in 2018, Laina Finance seeks to empower consumers with convenient and affordable payment solutions that help them manage their finances and achieve their goals.

“We are specializing in embedding micro credit to enable customers to buy goods or pay for services while paying in instalments. Since 2019, we have been in collaboration with Vodacom Tanzania, other mobile operators, banks and insurance companies. Our service is credit embedded in any transaction,” Tonny Missokia, the Co-founder and Director of Laina Finance noted, adding;

“For example, if a customer wants to buy a mobile phone, they simply walk into a Vodacom shop or any other partner shops that we have. The customer will give his/her information which will be sent to our system. The customer is prompted to give consent. Once they give their consent, we analyze the data and generate a payment plan for that customer. Once they accept the payment plan, they make an initial deposit to us and we pay instantly the full amount to the shop. The customer will get the mobile phone and then pay us in instalments. You can access our service by either going to one of our partner shops or through USSD or downloading our mobile APP available on both Android and IOS.”

Missokia noted that their service is a win-win for all stakeholders as it addresses the issues of affordability, and increases customers’ purchasing power while growing revenues for shops.

Even so, he noted that the main challenges they face include the fact that this line of business is very capital intensive thus requiring multiple funding options, delayed decision-making by potential funding partners and low attraction of investors in the Tanzania Fintech space.

Laina Finance features on Day 24 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for Tanzania. First implemented in Uganda, 40 Days 40 FinTechs is an annual FinTech Innovation initiative presented by HiPipo to recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations who are making significant strides in promoting financial inclusivity through the use of technology.

“We seriously underestimate the power of visibility of our brands. Most of the FinTechs and generally start-ups focus on building solutions and pitching them but when they go to some boardrooms, people tell them that they have never heard of their companies and solutions. This is what 40 Days 40 FinTechs is addressing,” Missokia said.

January 9, 2024

Bima Ya Buku is using FinTech to democratize Insurance for Boda Boda Riders. 40 Days 40 FinTechs Tanzania Day 23

Public road transport is a common and pocket-friendly type of transport across East Africa. It is either you use a bus, coaster, taxi, cab or get a motorbike.

Motorbikes have over the years been transformed into different types and given different names. Depending on the East African country you reside in, you will hear names such as Boda Bodas, Tuk Tuks and Bajaj.

In Tanzania, the most popular are Boda Boda – a two-wheeled motorbike or Bajaj – two or three-wheeled Rickshaws. These employ hundreds of people and transport thousands of passengers every day.

Even though so popular, Boda Bodas and Bajajs as known in Tanzania come with dangers such as many accidents, theft, unskilled personnel, absent mechanical maintenance and health issues caused by poor hygiene. This is worsened by the fact that the market has over the years lacked well-tailored products targeting this sector; for example, most of the health and insurance products on the market are very expensive for the Boda Boda sector.

But this is fast changing. In 2023, CRDB Bank launched motorcycle taxi insurance, targeting the Boda Boda and Bajaj riders.

Implemented in partnership with Laina Finance, Bima Ya Buku is a revolutionary Insurance scheme targeting the motorbike business. The scheme is payable in instalments of TZS 1,000/- a day for three months after which the rider enjoys motor and health insurance.

“Towards the end of September, we launched a new Insurance proposition in partnership with Laina Finance. The product goes by the name Bima Ya Buku which speaks directly to its pricing. Buku means TZS 1,000 which is less than a dollar. Through Bima Ya Buku, riders get insurance for their motorcycles, medical insurance, life insurance and condolences. It is a package of four but also includes liability insurance for the third party that utilizes these Bajaj and Boda Boda services,” Moureen Majaliwa, the Head of Bancassurance at CRDB Bank.

“The payment for this product is set on a daily but users have room to pay weekly, ten days or quarterly. This is a first-of-its-kind value proposition that considers all market realities. The product is 100 per cent accessible digitally through our USSD. It takes you less than 20 seconds to own an insurance which protects not only your assets but also your health.”

Majaliwa noted that while the product has received a great reception with hundreds of riders enrolling, it is not without challenges.

“The biggest challenge we are facing is limited awareness among our target audience. But as a bank, we have invested a lot in terms of media, influencers, and social media messaging to address this.

We interacted with Bima Ya Buku by CRDB Bank on Day 23 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for Tanzania. First implemented in Uganda, 40 Days 40 FinTechs is an annual FinTech Innovation initiative presented by HiPipo to recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations who are making significant strides in promoting financial inclusivity through the use of technology.

Majaliwa noted that the 40 Days 40 FinTechs is helping tackle the issue of silos that has undermined the industry for ages.

“There have been very few partnerships, collaborations and engagements which allowed different platforms to share data. But with 40 Days 40 FinTechs activities, we now know that we are focusing on a similar financial inclusion goal. As such, every other person is looking at how we can work together to deliver impact.”

January 8, 2024

Tunzaa enables Customers to purchase Goods and Services through a Save and Buy model. 40 Days 40 FinTechs Tanzania Day 22

Now and then, you may have to purchase a particular product or service. Usually, most of these purchases are done with full payments. That is to say, if Item X costs TZS 200,000, the buyer will make this payment and then acquire the said item.

The other way goods and services are acquired is on credit. This is divided into two avenues – Buy Now and Pay Later or Save Now and Buy Later.

Under Buy Now and Pay Later, the buyer takes the product on credit with a clear payment plan of when s/he will clear the product fee and then completely own the purchased product or service. This model usually factors in an interest, over and above the actual cost of the product considering that the payment doesn’t come at once.

The opposite of Buy Now and Pay Later is Save Now and Buy Later. Under this model, the buyer identifies the goods or services s/he intends to purchase, agrees on the price with the seller, signs the agreement and then starts saving money towards this purchase; the money is saved with the seller. As soon as s/he saves enough to buy this item, s/he then takes his product or consumes the service.

Thanks to financial technology, both Buy Now and Pay Later and Save Now and Buy Later are fast-growing across Africa.

In Tanzania, Tunzaa FinTech enables unbanked customers to save for purchases from a curated marketplace of trusted merchants with secure savings and payment APIs. The platform is built for everyday Africans who want to improve their financial habits with a save now and buy later model which allows users to purchase goods and services from vetted vendors who accept payments installment payments regarding of the amount.

According to Ng’winula Kingamkono, the Founder and CEO of TUNZAA FinTech, Tunzaa – ‘to save’ in English, is a digital platform that allows people to pay for products and services in instalments, in advance and as soon as they finish the payments, they get the products or have the services delivered.

“Tunzaa is available as both a web and mobile APP – accessible on Google Play and Apple Store. We are also accessible on the Vodacom MPESA APP. You simply come to our platform and pick a product of your choice, then you can pay for your product in instalments -daily, weekly or monthly. As soon as you finish the payment, you get the product,” Kingamkono said.

He added: “We aim at helping Africans understand their consumption, spending and saving habits. We then help them use their income to pay and acquire what they need. We give them the power to pay when they want and what they want until the full payment is made. We support both mobile money and bank card payments. Ours is to ensure that once the payment is complete, you get a genuine product.”

Kingamkono noted that the main challenges they faced when first rolling out this Save Now and Buy Later business model were Limited Trust among customers, Low Compliance and Lack of Enough Products to satisfy the appetite of customers. He nonetheless noted that they have since taken steps to address these challenges and thus serve more customers.

We interacted with Tunzaa FinTech on Day 22 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for Tanzania. First implemented in Uganda, 40 Days 40 FinTechs is an annual FinTech Innovation initiative presented by HiPipo to recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations who are making significant strides in promoting financial inclusivity through the use of technology.

Kingamkono noted that the 40 Days 40 FinTechs gives Africans a chance to see what their fellow Africans are doing, something that further inspires them to work harder.

“Everything starts with a conversation. A platform like 40 Days 40 FinTechs gives us a chance to exchange ideas with different stakeholders. It also allows us to share our story; something that inspires other young innovators out there. We need to hear more stories that we can relate to and this is one way of doing it,” Kingamkono said.

January 7, 2024

Nilipe is using FinTech to make life easy for Revelers and Events Organizers. 40 Days 40 FinTechs Tanzania Day 21

Tanzania has a very vibrant entertainment life with several chart-topping artists, supported by millions of partygoers. As such, a week cannot pass without an entertainment event happening in Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Arusha, Moshi, Dodoma, Morogoro and Zanzibar.

While entertainment is a lucrative business in Tanzania, it has its downside; with one unique challenge affecting both event organisers and Revelers alike. That is the hustle involved in selling and buying physical, call them printed tickets.

The ticketing process; production, marketing, distribution and purchase is a time-wasting and costly venture. Particularly, physical tickets are easy to forge, spoil and lose. They also require a lot of manpower in terms of distribution and selling.

Yet all these ills can be cured with one action; replacing physical tickets with digital tickets.

In Tanzania, the Nilipe APP is leading the transition from physical to online tickets powered by smart devices and mobile payments.

According to Steven Kajamiti, the General Manager of Nilipe APP, the platform makes the life of party-goers very easy as they can purchase tickets online without having to move anywhere.

“It is very easy. You download the APP and subscribe after which you find the running events. You select your event and select the number of tickets you want. Because you have already subscribed to the platform with your mobile number, the cost of the selected tickets will show up on your mobile wallet. You will then be prompted by your mobile service provider to instant your mobile money PIN and the payment will be completed. You will then get your purchased tickets in the form of QR codes,” Kajamiti noted.

He added: “For events organizers, they pay a subscription fee and we also sign contracts with them. They can then set up their events and start selling tickets. The platform takes a commission of between 5 to 10 per cent per ticket.”

He noted that one of the key challenges faced in the digital ticketing business is the transaction charges, over and above the actual cost of the tickets.

“There is a challenge of making people understand that the networks are the ones that take the transaction fees not us; most people think that we are the ones that take the transaction fees. For example, if a ticket is 20,000 on the APP and someone has 20,000 exactly on their phone, and they try to purchase the ticket and the transaction fails, they will then come back to us thinking that we charging them more money. We have to explain to them that the transaction fees are deducted by the telecoms just like when you are sending money to another person.”

We interacted with Nilipe on Day 21 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for Tanzania. First implemented in Uganda, 40 Days 40 FinTechs is an annual FinTech Innovation initiative presented by HiPipo to recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations who are making significant strides in promoting financial inclusivity through the use of technology.

“The 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative brings all stakeholders closer to discuss issues affecting the industry, in addition to telling and sharing our innovation stories widely,” Kajamiti noted.

January 6, 2024

BimaSokoni is accelerating Insurance penetration. 40 Days 40 FinTechs Tanzania Day 20

Insurance penetration in Africa is very low with South Africa rated highest, at only 12 percent. In Tanzania, Insurance penetration stood at less than 2 per cent by the end of 2021. It is the same story across East Africa; Uganda – 1 per cent, Burundi – 1 per cent, Rwanda – 2.3 per cent and Kenya – 2.4 per cent.

Several factors have been brought forward to explain the low insurance uptake. These include a lack of public confidence and trust in insurance, a lack of insuring culture by most Africans, low awareness and understanding of insurance, and limited innovation.

Even so, the past few years have seen some efforts undertaken to address these issues. Such efforts include more awareness programs, insurance product diversity, accessibility through mobile devices and quicker settlement of claims.

FinTech company, SmartX Limited is contributing to the uptake of Insurance in Tanzania through its flagship product BimaSokoni.

BimaSokoni is a digital marketplace that facilitates insurers and broker to easily promote and sell their insurance products to the public at large. It is among the first insurance aggregators in Tanzania with the goal of transforming the insurance industry into a digital space.

According to Azhar Ghartey, the CEO of SmartX Limited, BimaSokoni digitizes all insurance products and directly allows customers to buy insurance online.

“At BimaSokoni, we onboard all insurance companies, brokers, agents and banks and allow them to sell insurance online. Customers go on their mobile devices, visit our website and select the insurance product of their choice. As soon as they select their preferred product, they get a control number because our systems are integrated with the Tanzania Insurance Regulator and the Revenue Authority. As soon as the customer gets the control number, they can pay via mobile money after which they can receive the policy details right on their mobile phone,” Azhar explained.

He noted that minus running an online Insurance platform, his company is investing a lot of resources on educating and raising awareness around Insurance because low awareness contributes significantly to the low uptake of Insurance across Africa.

“We have been operational for one year with an online website. In the future, we plan to have more products and an APP. Online Insurance is a new concept of buying Insurance and thus comes with its own unique challenges. Many customers don’t trust online systems; they are very sceptical but we continue to educate and engage them.”

BimaSokoni features on Day 20 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for Tanzania. First implemented in Uganda, 40 Days 40 FinTechs is an annual FinTech Innovation initiative presented by HiPipo to recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations who are making significant strides in promoting financial inclusivity through the use of technology.

“Recently we launched TAFINA – Tanzania Fintech Association; specifically, to bring the different FinTechs together and talk about the challenges facing the industry and thereafter engage the regulators and policymakers on how to address these challenges. The 40 Days 40 FinTechs is a great initiative which supports these ongoing efforts by raising awareness about what the African market is innovating in the FinTech space. The African story hasn’t been well put out thus 40 Days 40 FinTechs fills this gap by telling the African story,” Azhar explained.