A new survey indicates that the proportion of Tanzanian adults with access to formal financial services has increased from 65 percent to 76 percent over the past five years.
According to the FinScope Tanzania 2023 Survey, which was launched by the Bank of Tanzania, the surge in access to formal financial services is credited to the extensive adoption of mobile money services and improved availability of formal banking options.
FinScope is described as a comprehensive survey conducted on a national scale in Tanzania, specifically targeting adults aged 16 years and above. Its purpose is to gather demand-side data, capturing the financial behavior and needs of the adult population residing in Tanzania.
It remains to be the main source of data for policy making in TZ for financial inclusion.
Key report highlights:
- Number of Tanzanians who are formally banked has increased from 17% to 22% (25.2% in Zanzibar)
- Only 0.5% of Tanzanians invest in capital markets
- Only 13% of Tanzanians have regular income
- Use of mobile money services increased to 72%
- Cash is still the king, still accounting for 82% of incomes paid
- Insurance penetration decreased from 15% to 10%
- People don’t save to invest, just to cover their daily expenses and emergencies
- 75% of Tanzanians own a mobile phone
- Only 2% of people have a pension plan
- 67% of people borrow from family and friends as their main source of credit
- Only 3% of people who own land have a title deed
- 89% of Tanzanians living within the 5km radius of a financial service point, but the uptate is still very low. People still prefer cash transactions
- Uptake of investment schemes – Pension funds (4%), Government securities (0.2%), Crypto (1.7%), UTT (1.4), Livestock (15.9%)
1 in 3 Tanzanians🇹🇿 who are financially-included are aware of investment vehicles, but only half of them have taken them up.#Crypto investment within this demographic stands at only 1.7% pic.twitter.com/yXzHDJJbZh
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) July 21, 2023
Based on the 2022 National Population and Housing Census, the estimated adult population in Tanzania stands at 34.1 million individuals, which accounts for approximately 55 percent of the country’s total population of 61.7 million.
Currently, 22 percent of Tanzanian adults are utilizing traditional banking services, representing a rise of five percentage points from the 2017 figure of 17 percent. This growth can be largely attributed to the accessibility of banking services through mobile phones.
According to Bank of Tanzania Governor, Emmanuel Tutuba, the current percentage of 76 percent of Tanzanian adults with access to financial inclusion surpasses the government’s target of 75 percent outlined in the National Financial Inclusion Framework II (NFIF II 2018-2022).
“Since 2017, the number of adults excluded financially has fallen to 6.4 million in 2023 from 7.8 million,” the report says in part.
Some factors contributing to the exclusion of a segment of the population from the formal financial system include limited proximity to access points, absence of national identification numbers, and low ownership of mobile phones.
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