TANZANIA is making significant investment strides in digital payment platforms that have increased efficiency and enhanced growth of the cashless economy.
The Absa Bank Tanzania Limited Chief Information Officer, Mr Emanuel Mwinuka said recently that the initiatives like National ID Database development, widespread usage of Government electronic Payment Gateway (GePG), mobile payments, and total banking suites on mobile or internet medium rank Tanzania as among countries in Africa coming up to fast pace with digitalization.
“All these digitalization initiatives are easily being achieved as they are a relief to consumers and other stakeholders in terms of saving costs and time. Almost all key services can be obtained online through cell phones,” he said.
Among ways to enhance this further can be through ensuring reliable internet throughout and that mobile phone companies offer cost-effective data that can assist consumers to access the internet easily.
“We are currently living in a digital era that has become inevitable as almost everything around us is in one way or another digitalized hence creating more efficiency and saving on time and resources,”
He said most businesses have had to transform the digital world to up the game and move with the current times.
He said no doubt that technology providers in Tanzania ought to have total alignment with the business as part of concerted and deliberate efforts to ensure the building of systemic stability and trust in the society at large by leveraging the use of digital platforms.
There is however need to have a strong monitoring system to mostly capture user experience as they engage or use the platforms hence having advanced information and reacting to a challenge before impact is recorded.
For more efficiency and better result, there is a need to invest in the resilience of platforms in the form of regular testing and evaluation of backup platforms, automating some of the activities in attaining resilience as well as up-keeping the environment via necessary patching, upgrades and similar measures to ensure availability of reliable platforms as digitalization continues to be the most critical investment area in most organizations.
One thing to keep in mind is that digital channels are no longer an alternative as they are now being mainstreamed hence there is a need to ensure stability and trust on the platforms among consumers to in the end realize smooth and expedient digital adoption.