According to the Daily News on August 21st, Tanzania's economy is rapidly transitioning to a cashless system, with double-digit growth in mobile currency, merchant payments, and point of sale (POS) transactions, while traditional payment methods such as checks and ATM withdrawals continue to lose market share. According to the Bank of Tanzania's (BoT) 2024 National Payment System Annual Report, the country's digital payment infrastructure is expanding at an unprecedented pace, driven by the continuous increase in smartphone penetration, increasingly sophisticated regulation, and growing consumer demand for faster and more affordable transactions. Mobile payments remain the backbone of Tanzania's digital economy. In 2024, the number of active subscribers increased by 17.46% to 63.21 million, higher than the previous year's 51.72 million. The trading volume reached 6.41 billion, compared to 5.06 billion in 2023; The transaction value surged 28.54% from 154.7 trillion shillings to 198.85 trillion shillings. BoT attributed this growth to the expansion of its agent network, which reached 1.48 million nationwide, an increase of nearly 19% compared to 2023.
