Six important headlines

We’re back with the week that was.

Today, we break down Visa Day 2025, Black Swan’s credit scoring system, and the country’s telecom industry.

You’ll also find three additional updates.

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1. Visa Opens Masaki Office

Behind closed doors.
BoT Governor Emmanuel Tutuba had been working on this for years.
During IMF meetings in Washington DC, he repeatedly asked Visa executives: “Why can’t you open an office in Tanzania?”
His argument was, “If you haven’t been in Tanzania, then you haven’t even been in the entire continent.”
On July 16 at a conference room in Dar es Salaam, Tutuba finally got his answer.
After operating in Tanzania for over five decades, Visa opened its first dedicated office in the country, with new Country Manager Victor Makere overseeing operations across Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi from the new Masaki location.
Why Tanzania, and why now?
As Tutuba explained to attendees, Tanzania’s membership in both the EAC and SADC, plus ratification of the AfCTA, means Visa’s Tanzania office can provide access to 1.3 billion people across sub-Saharan Africa.
Chad Pollock, Visa’s MD for East Africa, was direct about Tanzania’s competitive position: “Tanzania is positioned to give Kenya and Uganda a run for its money” due to the “energy of the people” and government support.
The opportunity.
Financial inclusion had grown from 65% to 76% between 2017 and 2023, FSDT CEO Eric Massinda told the event’s partnerships panel.
Bank usage has increased from 17% to 22% of Tanzanians. Yet “even though most people might receive money either into a bank account or mobile money wallet, cash is still king.”
No single company can digitize Tanzania’s entire economy alone.
Changing payment behaviours (i.e., by introducing 1-click payments for daily commutes) requires collaboration between telcos, banks, and card networks to address the cost, convenience, and acceptance barriers that keep people using physical money.
Results of working together.
The partnership between Vodacom and Visa serves 200,000+ Tanzanians.
Among other benefits, M-Pesa Visa cards allow students to pay tuition fees abroad while enabling local businesses to access global e-commerce platforms without needing traditional bank accounts.
The end game.
Visa wants to reduce the amount of cash flowing in sub-Saharan economies like Tanzania.
To achieve that goal, it is currently prioritizing collaboration with regulators, banks, and fintechs to modernize how we pay for urban transport, tourism, and agricultural products.

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2. Black Swan Publishes AI Credit Research After Banking Industry Recognition

The Dar es Salaam-based AI startup made international academic headlines last week as their machine learning research appeared in Springer Nature’s Human-Centric Intelligent Systems journal.
This comes just weeks after Black Swan (previously Tausi Africa) placed second in Absa Bank’s Wazo Challenge, demonstrating growing industry validation for their approach to credit scoring.
The research problem.
Most African merchants operate without traditional credit histories, leaving them excluded from formal lending.
Derick Kazimoto, Black Swan’s CEO, and research director Prof. Said Baadel tackled this challenge by developing AI models that assess creditworthiness using transaction data instead of conventional banking records.
Their study used anonymous data from a Southern African fintech company. And applied computer analysis to find patterns in how small, unofficial businesses operate.
The research found that machine learning can accurately predict loan defaults even without traditional credit bureau information.
Real world application.
Black Swan’s academic work translates directly into their commercial product Manka, which reduces credit assessment time from three hours to two minutes.
The platform analyzes both bank and mobile money statements, extracting over 300 data points to determine creditworthiness.
Joseph Paul, CEO of pharmaceutical distributor Dawa Mkononi, confirmed the partnership’s impact. “With these incredible minds, we can safely provide the right amount of stock financing to the right pharmacies and health facilities,” he said.
Market significance.
Tanzania’s lending market has grown to 403+ financial institutions serving over 11 million borrowers, with 70% of loans now coming from digital lenders.
However, manual credit assessment remains the norm, creating bottlenecks for both lenders and borrowers.
Black Swan’s technology addresses this inefficiency while targeting financial inclusion.
With 68.1 million mobile money accounts compared to just ~20 million bank accounts in Tanzania, alternative data sources become crucial for assessing creditworthiness.
The startup’s published research validates AI-driven approaches to expanding credit access across Africa’s informal economy, where traditional banking data remains limited but mobile money usage provides rich transaction histories for analysis.

3. Vodacom Gains Market Share, Halotel Challenges Big Three

Tanzania’s telecom battle is improving person-to-person (P2P) and machine-to-machine (M2M) communication.
We are seeing surprising winners and losers emerging from the past 18 months of fierce competition between mobile network operators (MNOs).
Market shifts.
Vodacom strengthened its lead, operating 32.1% of all active SIM cards by June 2025, up from 30% in December 2023.
The gain came largely at Airtel’s expense, which dropped from 27% to 22.4% market share over the same period.
More surprisingly, Halotel emerged as last biggest gainer. The smaller operator expanded from 12% to 15.6% market share. Hence, challenging the traditional dominance of Tanzania’s big three networks.
Yas held steady around 28%, maintaining its position as the country’s second-largest MNO despite intense competition.
What this means for users.
Competition translates directly into better value for Tanzanians.
Voice call costs dropped across all operators, with local calls averaging 28 shillings per minute compared to higher rates in 2024.
Internet access also improved dramatically.
Tanzania now has 54.1 million internet users, up from 49.3 million just three months earlier. Smartphone ownership reached 25 million devices as save-to-buy and installment payment options drove down handset prices.
5G coverage expanded from 23% to 26% of the population between March and June 2025, with networks racing to offer faster speeds in urban areas.
Behind the numbers.
Vodacom’s growth reflects its infrastructure investments and aggressive pricing for data bundles.
The company dominates internet services with 34% market share. It has positioned itself as the premium choice for business customers and heavy internet users.
Halotel’s rise challenges assumptions about Tanzania’s market saturation.
The operator gained subscribers by targeting rural areas and offering competitive pricing for basic voice and SMS services that larger networks sometimes overlook.
Airtel’s decline indicates wider challenges. Despite being part of a continental network, the company lost ground in both voice and internet segments as competitors matched its pricing while offering better service quality.
Service quality matters.
TCRA data shows service quality differences between operators.
Yas led with 98.9% network reliability, followed by Halotel at 96.2% and Airtel at 95.8%. Vodacom registered 95.7% while TTCL lagged at 87%.
These numbers matter during important calls or when mobile money transactions fail due to network problems.
Regional impact.
The competitive pressure extends beyond urban centers.
Network coverage now reaches 92% of the population for 3G services and 91% for 4G, bringing high-speed internet to previously underserved areas.
This infrastructure expansion supports everything from mobile money transfers in rural markets to students accessing online education platforms.
These market dynamics show Tanzania’s telecom sector remains highly competitive, with no single operator controlling more than 35% of subscribers.
This prevents monopolistic pricing while encouraging continued innovation and investment in network quality.

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ADDITIONAL HEADLINES

1. Government Integrates Two Health Information Systems

The computer system at Korogwe Town Hospital (GOTHOMIS) now instantly confirms if NHIF will cover a patient’s treatment before providing care.

Previously, staff submitted paperwork to NHIF and waited weeks for payment approval. This often slowed down patient service.

This integration pilot will expand to hospitals nationwide if successful.

1. Comoros Offers Untapped Market for Tanzanian Tech

According to SSC Capital, the 880,000-person island nation spends $122.3 million importing food supplies, representing 35% of total imports.

Rice, meat, and wheat dominate purchase lists, while remittances account for 19.5% of GDP, creating financial services opportunities.

Internet penetration sits at just 27.3%, and many Comorians travel to Tanzania for specialized healthcare.

1. TTCL Launches Cross-Border Internet Facility

The data center stores and processes internet traffic between Tanzania and Uganda.

It eliminates the need to route communications through expensive overseas connections.

Companies can now conduct video conferences, transfer files, and process payments faster and cheaper across borders.