Fintech for Who? Demand for Digital Financial Services and Fintech in Tanzania

Tanzania’s digital financial sector has grown rapidly since mobile money was first introduced to the country in 2008, largely thanks to an enabling regulatory environment and a competitive market. While mobile money account ownership has grown rapidly in recent years —from 32 percent of the adult population in 2014 to 45 percent in 2021— and while advancements in financial technology have allowed providers to offer increasingly innovative and value-added services, millions of Tanzanians remain excluded or under-served by the financial sector.

Still, the potential for digital technology to enable more meaningful usage of financial services remains high, especially for women, people living in rural areas, and owners of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises.

This paper explores the drivers of demand for digital financial services and fintech: perceived cost, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived risk, and social norms. While these drivers are interlinked—they depend on and reinforce one another—by looking at the data in these areas (and comparing these to other markets), we gain insights into which constraints are the most concerning, and potential approaches for overcoming them.