Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 10 | Page 40

COUNTRY FOCUS: TANZANIA
integration continues to elude
Tanzania, and the argument is that to
promote and sustain financial inclusion
growth there must be mobilisation of
savings to allocate them to households,
businesses, and government for
productive investments.
Ngwegwe, FINCA Tanzania, Managing
Director. The bank is currently running
an awareness campaign showcasing
the importance of saving, along with
educating customers on how the new
technology works.
FINCA Microfinance Bank believes that
for markets to work well and correctly,
every customer is entitled to fairly priced
and transparent financial products –
along with information to empower
them to make educated decisions for
their financial future. With this service customers can open
a savings account from their mobile
phones in less than five minutes without
leaving their homes. With their free
accounts, customers can set savings
targets – like paying for their children’s
education – and earn free mobile
airtime as they achieve their goals.
“We recently launched HaloYako, an
innovative mobile savings account
that is easy to use, convenient to
access, free from fees and tailored
for low-income business owners for
their future investments,” said Issa “It took FINCA 20 years to reach
900,000 clients evolving from a micro
finance to a fully-fledged commercial
bank. In two weeks of launching the
HaloYako platform, 30,000 people
have opened accounts. This goes to
show how fintech plays a critical role
in lowering transaction costs and
expanding access to financial services,”
further stated Ngwegwe.
“FINCA’S 30-year-old global mission has
been to improve our customer’s standard
of living with products that serve their
best interests. Technology is enabling
hundreds of new entrants into banking –
and many bring sorely needed innovation
and fresh ideas,” said Ngwegwe.
Universal Financial Inclusion has
been a goal of responsible financial
service providers for decades. With
an innovative technology product like
HaloYako, FINCA is closer to a day
where every Tanzanian, no matter
where they live or how much they earn,
not only has financial power, but has it
accessible at the palm of their hands.
EDUCATION
Africa Code Week 2017
launched in Tanzania
A
frica Code Week (ACW) officially kicked-off on 18
October in Tanzania in the presence of government
officials and hundreds of pupils from surrounding
areas, beginning the first series of live coding workshops.
500,000 children and young adults aged 8-24 participated
in the thousands of free coding workshops organised
throughout the week.
With half a million young Africans engaged over the past
two years, 15 governments and over 100 partners on board
already, Africa Code Week speaks volumes on the importance
and impact of public-private partnerships in the digital
age. According to Claire Gillissen-Duval, Director of EMEA
Corporate Social Responsibility at SAP and Global Project Lead
for Africa Code Week, “Tanzania is a perfect example of how
governments can leverage the Africa Code Week shared-value
model and dynamic ecosystem to accelerate schools’ digital
transformation and fast-track youth empowerment through
ICT across entire nations.”
Tanzania has grown faster than the average rate of growth
in sub-Saharan Africa (6.9% compared to 4.9% growth rate
since 2005) and key drivers for its path to transformation are
centred around technology-based innovation and improving
skills. Speaking at the event, Hon Minister Ndalichako noted
that “The use of ICT has increased considerably in recent
years, it is a key foundation which will lift Africa out of poverty
in a sustainable manner. We are thankful to SAP and Africa
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INTELLIGENTCIO
Code Week partners for their support in our efforts to boost
STEM skills development for our youth, and we look forward
to empowering a new generation of digital innovators across
Tanzania and Africa at large,” she said.
Attending the first series of coding workshops organised for
Tanzanian pupils ahead of the ceremony, Minister Cannon
commented, “For the young generation to take advantage of
the immense opportunities presented by the digital revolution,
coding must become part of their daily learning journey: coding
is the 21st century language and as with any other language,
the earlier children learn it, the faster they become fluent.” n
Africa Code Week aims to engage and educate Africa’s youth
for the IT roles of the future (Image ©JulianGoldswain)
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