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Vodacom partners with CRDB Bank to improve people’s access to smartphones
The telecoms operator Vodacom Tanzania announced a partnership agreement with CRDB Bank to promote access to smartphones for the Tanzanian population.
The collaboration aims to offer customers loans that they can repay daily, weekly or monthly over a period of up to 12 months via M-Pesa, the telecom company’s mobile money platform.
“ It was found that despite the country’s efforts to deploy high-speed mobile services, many customers still use 2G devices. This limits their access to opportunities available online ,” said Abdulmajid Nsekela, Managing Director of CRDB Bank.
These efforts come in a context where smartphones are still not affordable for the majority of African consumers, particularly due to their high cost. According to statistics from the Tanzania Telecommunications Authority (TCRA), only 32.3% of the 70.3 million telecom subscriptions recorded in the country at the end of 2023 were on smartphones. Feature phones remain the most used devices with a penetration rate of 82.62%.
Accelerating smartphone adoption is expected to help bridge the digital divide in Tanzania. These devices can in particular allow populations to access public services more easily thanks to the digital platforms set up by the government. They can also be used for other uses such as streaming multimedia content, online learning, mobile banking, social networks, etc.
Vodacom Tanzania can also expect an increase in revenue, especially due to new digital consumption patterns that require more internet data. The offer may also allow Vodacom to attract new subscribers and strengthen its position in the market.
The Tanzanian subsidiary of Vodacom Group had a market share of 30% as of December 31, 2023, according to TCRA data. It is followed by Tigo and Airtel which respectively controlled 28% and 27% of the national mobile telephone subscriber base. Followed by Halotel (18%) and TTCL (3%).
