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Tanzania telecom in joint venture for children-SMS Makini
DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA - Tigo Tanzania, in partnership with Shule Direct, a local online enterprise, has launched Short Message Service (SMS) Makini educational platform that will provide content for students and teachers in Tanzanian secondary schools.
ONLINE LEARNING: Flora Tibarazwa (3rd left) a representative from COSTECH; Woinde Shisael, Tigo Corporate Services Responsibility Manager (2nd right) and Faraja Nyalandu (R) Shule Direct founder both looking on at how the online SMS learning platform for secondary schools system operates.
Tigo Corporate Responsibility Manager, Woinde Shishael, said at a launch function held at Azania Secondary School in Dar es Salaam last week, SMS Makini will enable students to access digital study tools online and bridge the existing gap of learning resources in the educational sector.
“Through the use of Tigo SMS Makini, Tigo subscribers, particularly secondary school students and teachers will be able to access digitalized notes, tutorials, quizzes, podcasts and videos right from their mobile handsets,” Woinde said.
She said the classes to be involved in the platform will be Form one to Form four adding that academic notes will be based on Tanzania’s educational syllabus covering nine learning subjects.
The subjects covered include History, Civics, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English, Mathematics and Kiswahili.
According to Woinde Tigo SMS Makini also accords students and teachers an interactive opportunity to discuss, share ideas, revise and download the National Examinations Council of Tanzania (NECTA) past academic papers as well as meeting online for the 10,000 registered.
Tigo subscribers will access the service for free for one month and thereafter they will be charged a daily and weekly subscription fee of Tsh.100 ($0.045) and Tsh.500 ($0.227) respectively.
To access the service, Tigo subscribers will need to send a key word Makini to 15397 and follow instructions.
The partnership with Shule Direct is part of Tigo’s strategy to support initiatives that have high impact in the community.
Meanwhile Tigo Tanzania last week donated 500 desks worth Tsh.82.5 million ($39,091) to 10 primary schools in Kinondoni district, Dar es Salaam region, in support of the government’s effort to offset the existing countrywide shortage of desks in primary schools.
Speaking at a handover ceremony held at Kawawa Primary School located in Mabibo ward in Kinondoni municipality, Tigo General Manager Diego Gutierrez said the donation is in line with the company’s commitment to support community initiatives seeking to uplift people’s living condition.
“The donation is part of Tigo’s investment on social projects that have high impact on the community. We believe that through this donation, Tigo is playing a role in shaping the future leaders, doctors, engineers and other experts of this country,” Gutierrez said.
Source: Busiweek
Tigo Tanzania launches innovative nano (Tigo Nivushe) lending scheme to its customers
Tigo Nivushe poised to foster financial inclusion
Leading digital lifestyle company, Tigo (www.Tigo.co.tz), announced today that it will launch an easy to access nano lending product to its stable of mobile financial services. This new product will not require collateral and offers immediate access to small loans to Tigo Pesa users.
Tigo Head of Mobile Financial Services, Ruan Sawnepoel, said in a statement to the press today that for the first time the nano loans product, called Tigo Nivushe will allow Tigo Pesa customers to build their own credit history and being open to any Tigo Pesa customer turns the typical lending models upside down. No security is required or taken and the loan product has been designed to be transparent and foster responsible lending.
Explaining the product’s flexibility, Swanepoel said Tigo Nivushe offers different lending periods with variable administrative costs based on the length of tenure. The loans – with an average of Tsh 10,000 (US$ 5) – are processed in real-time and funds transferred within minutes. As customers build up their credit history they are able to borrow higher amounts with lower administration fees. Loans are delivered directly to the mobile wallet so customers can immediately use the funds to pay bills, transfer to others, or cash out at the thousands of agents across the country, he noted.
“Tigo Nivushe has been designed to encourage responsible lending. Previous mobile behaviour is used to determine suitable limits for loans and customers will only be able to have one loan at a time. Protection against life shocks is included as everyone will be automatically insured for the loan amount against death or permanent disability. Most importantly, as the product is fee based no interest can be accumulated in the event of default and acquiring a loan will not affect mobile or Tigo Pesa accounts in any way, “ Swanepoel said.
The head of Mobile Financial Services further said: “We are thrilled today to be launching Tigo Nivushe. It is an essential product for driving financial inclusion, which is critical to Tanzania’s continued economic growth and success. These quite small loans can make all the difference and are crucial for building credit history and obtaining credit in the future.”
Disruptive E-money services, delivered through mobile phones have already changed the lives of millions of people. With this new responsible lending product, Tigo wants to change the way people think about lending, according to Ruan.
Source:Tigo
Leading digital lifestyle company, Tigo (www.Tigo.co.tz), announced today that it will launch an easy to access nano lending product to its stable of mobile financial services. This new product will not require collateral and offers immediate access to small loans to Tigo Pesa users.
Tigo Head of Mobile Financial Services, Ruan Sawnepoel, said in a statement to the press today that for the first time the nano loans product, called Tigo Nivushe will allow Tigo Pesa customers to build their own credit history and being open to any Tigo Pesa customer turns the typical lending models upside down. No security is required or taken and the loan product has been designed to be transparent and foster responsible lending.
Explaining the product’s flexibility, Swanepoel said Tigo Nivushe offers different lending periods with variable administrative costs based on the length of tenure. The loans – with an average of Tsh 10,000 (US$ 5) – are processed in real-time and funds transferred within minutes. As customers build up their credit history they are able to borrow higher amounts with lower administration fees. Loans are delivered directly to the mobile wallet so customers can immediately use the funds to pay bills, transfer to others, or cash out at the thousands of agents across the country, he noted.
“Tigo Nivushe has been designed to encourage responsible lending. Previous mobile behaviour is used to determine suitable limits for loans and customers will only be able to have one loan at a time. Protection against life shocks is included as everyone will be automatically insured for the loan amount against death or permanent disability. Most importantly, as the product is fee based no interest can be accumulated in the event of default and acquiring a loan will not affect mobile or Tigo Pesa accounts in any way, “ Swanepoel said.
The head of Mobile Financial Services further said: “We are thrilled today to be launching Tigo Nivushe. It is an essential product for driving financial inclusion, which is critical to Tanzania’s continued economic growth and success. These quite small loans can make all the difference and are crucial for building credit history and obtaining credit in the future.”
Disruptive E-money services, delivered through mobile phones have already changed the lives of millions of people. With this new responsible lending product, Tigo wants to change the way people think about lending, according to Ruan.
Source:Tigo
Tanzania in mobile money ‘first’ for Africa
Vodacom joined Tigo, Airtel and Zantel in a pioneering interoperability scheme for mobile money in Tanzania.
In 2014, Tigo, Airtel and Zantel agreed to enable their customers to send and receive money across their networks. After announcing it would join last year, Vodacom has now implemented the scheme.
Tanzania becomes Africa’s first country with full interoperability for P2P money transfers, according to a statement issued by three of the operators.
Interoperability means more traffic and hence revenue, at least that’s the argument of Tigo, Airtel and Zantel, which have seen off-network transactions grow 3.5 times since 2014.
Tanzania, like neighbouring Kenya, is a case study for mobile money with high usage levels. There are more than 16 million mobile financial users in Tanzania.
Source:mobileworldlive
Tigo Pesa, now the largest Mobile Financial Service eco-system in Tanzania
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Tigo becomes the
only operator in Tanzania to offer interoperability with Airtel, Vodacom and
Zantel
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DAR ES SALAAM,
Tanzania, February 18, 2016/ -- Tigo Tanzania (www.Tigo.co.tz)
announced today that customers of its Tigo Pesa mobile money service will now
be able to move funds between any of the country’s mobile money operators, as
Vodacom’s M-Pesa joins an interoperable network already set up by Tigo,
Zantel and Airtel. Tigo becomes the only operator in Tanzania to offer
interoperability with Airtel, Vodacom and Zantel.
 Vodacom’s participation means that more than 16 million mobile money users in Tanzania will be able to conduct transactions with one-another regardless of which mobile operator they use. It also creates Africa’s first universal interoperable mobile money network. In June 2014, Tigo, Airtel and Zantel announced a pioneering interoperability agreement. Since then, their customers have enjoyed interoperability between their mobile money accounts which has accounted for an increase of 3.5 times the value of total offline transactions. After announcing it would join the interoperable network one year ago, Vodacom has now implemented the deal. Interoperability in Tanzania today is not exclusive to mobile operators, and also includes more than 25 banks. The country’s 16 million mobile financial users transact the equivalent of more than 50% of Tanzania’s GDP each month. Thanks to this growing network, Tanzania is now the leading place for mobile money in east Africa, overtaking Kenya. Commenting on today’s announcement, Tigo Tanzania Head of Mobile Financial Services, Ruan Swanepoel, said: “With Tigo Pesa, customers will now benefit from faster, cheaper and safer cashless transactions with anyone across the country.” Swanepoel continued, “We believe interoperability is crucial to the success of mobile money and the wider goal of increasing financial inclusion. It is also a fundamental building block towards constructing a digital economy, enabling merchants and other start-ups to participate in the financial services ecosystem. Our aim going forward is to reach similar agreements with networks in other markets.”
Distributed by APO
(African Press Organization) on behalf of Tigo.
SOURCE
Tigo |
Tigo launches online remittance service in UK, EU and Canada can send money to Tigo Pesa wallets in Tanzania
Millicom has revealed the launch of sendmoney.tigo.com. According to the company, its customers in UK, European Union and Canada can send money to Tigo Pesa wallets in Tanzania in real time using the online portal.
The company revealed in a media release that there are plans to extend the service to include Tigo Cash wallets in other African countries., however, the company did not specify which countries as of yet.
Announcing the launch in London, Greg Reeve, General Manager, Mobile Financial Services said that Tigo’s new service will make transactions convenient, fast and secure for the Tanzania diaspora living in UK, European Union and Canada.
According to the company the online portal provides the same security standards as banks, with payments being processed through Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode, and allows users to receive transfers safely and quickly straight into their Tigo Pesa wallets. With one of the lowest transaction fees in the market, lower than any bank, sendmoney.tigo.com is one of the most safe and convenient ways to send remittances to Tanzania.
The World Bank has acknowledged Tanzania as a main recipient market for international remittances, with a total of USD64 million of transfers from Tanzanians living abroad in 2014 alone.
Greg Reeve said: “Historically customers had to travel long distances and carry large amounts of cash whenever they received money from abroad, an inconvenient and risky process. With the expansion of mobile remittances and services like sendmoney.tigo.com, this is no longer the case. Our vision is to expand services for our customers to fully benefit from their Tigo Pesa wallets.”
Source:itnewsafrica
Tanzania Telecoms target universal coverage
MAJOR telecoms have been approved to provide their services to 112 wards being part of a government drive to provide universal telecommunication.
Vodacom, Airtel and Tigo and TTCL will provide telecommunications services to 102 wards which are un-served or underserved for a total subsidy of 7.6 million US dollars (14.2bn/-) and another 10 wards located in border areas and special zones for 1.5 million US dollars (2.7bn/-).
The subsidies have been provided to attract the operators to move to the areas which currently do not attract private investment in telecommunication service.
Representatives of the telecommunication companies signed the agreement with the Chief Executive Officer of the Universal Communications Service Access Fund, Mr Peter Ulanga, in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday.
The agreement signed on Tuesday followed a similar one signed in 2014 where the mobile telephone companies won tender to provide telecommunication services to 86 wards and another one in 2013 where 52 wards were involved.
“This is a good progress towards our goal of universal telecommunication service in the country. We hope next time more wards, perhaps 300 will be covered,” said the Minister for Communication, Science & Technology, Prof. Makame Mbarawa.
The communication operators had been invited to bid for tenders to provide communication services to 158 wards in a project involving 26.28bn/- (14.21 million US dollars).
A total of 158 wards (lots) were floated in a set of currently un-served or under-served wards within the country and 102 lots were bid successfully.
Tigo will cover 42 wards where it will receive 3.145bn/- as subsidies to move to the areas. Vodacom will go to 36 wards and will receive 6.33bn/- as subsidies.
TTCL won 19 wards and will receive 4.15bn/- as subsidies while Airtel has been approved to cover five wards and will get 566m/- as subsidies.
The mobile operators also will provide telecommunication services to 10 wards in border and special zone areas where Vodacom has two wards and will be entitled for 804.7m/- as subsidies, Tigo will go to 5 wards and will receive 985m/- as subsidies and Airtel will provide telecommunication service to three wards and will get 984.9m/- as subsidies.
Meanwhile, the Universal Communications Service Access Fund signed agreement with the Avant Communications to connect 250 public schools with internet and also establishing 25 ICT academic centres in various areas in the country.
source:dailynews
Microsoft launches Mobile Mathematics in Tanzania
Microsoft, in partnership with the Ministry of Communications, Science, Technology and Tigo Tanzania, have officially launched an innovative mobile education service called Nokia Mobile Mathematics. This service is now being managed by Microsoft, after the company acquired substantially all of Nokia’s devices and services business.
Nokia Mobile Mathematics is a service that enables learners across Tanzania to access quality mathematics content in an engaging and interactive manner directly from their mobile phones, completely free.
Mobile Mathematics offers over 9000 exercises, mapped to high school level, and can be accessed by any person with a data and browser-enabled device. In addition to the exercises, the learning service includes theories, sample question and answers, as well as social features like collaborative groups messaging and competitions. The key differentiator for the service is the ability for learners to compare their scores with peers, integrating an element of competitiveness into their learning.
“In many developing countries, the lack of engaging learning opportunities leads to high drop outs and failure rates in schools, especially in high school grades. Mobile Mathematics offers high quality learning opportunities and reliable interactive learning features for teachers and learners, thus increasing access to high quality education,” says Lilian Nganda, East Africa Communications Manager, Mobile Devices, Microsoft.
The learning service is fully browser-based and works on any connected phone, tablet or PC without needing to download an app. After a quick sign-up process, learners can practice exercises in a number of categories like algebra, trigonometry, calculus and statistics mapped to the Tanzanian curriculum. Nokia Mobile Mathematics will also help the East African community standardise education levels, and open more job opportunities for region.
Mobile Mathematics was first launched in South Africa for grade 10 – 12 learners. The content has now been localised by the Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE) and will be rolled out in select schools for form 1 to 4 students, as well as other users nationwide.
Tigo General Manager, Diego Gutierrez.
‘’Learning and technology have become inextricably linked and co-dependent. Mobile technology in particular has been the most powerful catalyst of change, redefining the educational approach including content delivery. It is Tigo’s desire to contribute to improving education and knowledge transfer by enabling students all over the country to improve their maths for free, ’’ commented Tigo General Manager, Diego Gutierrez.
Mobile Mathematics can be leveraged as a platform to deliver content for other subjects like physics, biology and languages. The service provides an opportunity for learners to extend their learning outside of the classroom in a fun and interactive manner.
Research data collected from South Africa indicates that learners’ competence levels improved by 14% compared to learners who were not using Mobile Mathematics. Additional statistics point out that 53% of students became more active users of the service, with 82% of the usage happening outside school hours.
The Mobile Mathematics service is available at https://momaths.nokia.com/tz
Source:dewjiblog
Vodacom and Tigo agree on mobile money interoperability
Millions of M-Pesa and Tigo Pesa customers in Tanzania will soon be able to send and receive money directly into each other’s wallets. This follows the recent signing of a mobile money interoperability agreement between Tigo and Vodacom.
The agreement announced today, will for the first time see four million Tigo Pesa users exchanging money directly with seven million M-Pesa customers. This is yet another tangible step towards the enhancement of financial inclusion in Tanzania as well as the expansion of the mobile money ecosystem in Tanzania.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) formulated the mobile-wallet-to wallet standards with support from Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA), (standards) which have been the basis of the interoperability discussions between mobile network operators in Tanzania.
Speaking at the signing ceremony in Dar es Salaam, Rene Meza, Vodacom Tanzania’s Managing Director said “This is a great evolution of the mobile money service in Tanzania. Our customers will soon be able to directly access the money received through Tigo Pesa and use it for whatever purposes they may have without necessarily having to cash it out.”
M-Pesa users can pay for an array of services from their phones. These include; TV subscriptions, Flights, Insurance services, Utilities, Taxes, School fees, Pension Contributions and Loans to name but a few.
In support of this, Meza says, "M-Pesa has added so much value to the lives of Tanzanians over the past seven years and the fact that this agreement with Tigo will see even more Tanzanians using our services to better their lives is indeed a major milestone. We expect to launch the service by the end of the year and are currently working on upgrading our M-Pesa platform which will see us invest in excess of Tshs 150 billion/- to cater for the expected growth of users."
Meza went on to say that the agreement signed between the country’s two largest mobile operators’ networks would allow Vodacom’s M-Pesa users to directly send and receive money to an additional four million Tigo Pesa users across the country at no additional cost or inconvenience to them by the end of the year.
We are now working to ensure that we have both the technology and requisite resources needed to provide the quality of service that our customers have come to expect from us through the years…we are nevertheless excited about the opportunities posed by this new operating model. Our extensive agent network which is over 85,000-strong as well as the enhancement of our M-Pesa service has to date allowed our 7 million M-Pesa users to be active players in the economy and we look forward to growing it even further. This is what making life better and financial inclusion is all about,” says Meza.
Source: Vodacom
Tigo to invest $120m in network expansion in 2015
Tigo Tanzania plans to spend US $ 120 million (Tshs 221 billion) this year in expanding its network coverage and improving the quality of its services.
Announcing the company’s plans in 2015, Tigo Interim General Manager Cecile Tiano said this year’s investment represents a 20% increase from US $ 100 million (Tshs 184 billion) that the company spent on its network improvement in 2014.
“The increased level of investment demonstrates both our commitment to give our customers quality services that exceed their expectations and also giving more Tanzanians access to telecom services in the country,” Ms Tiano said.
Describing 2014 as a successful season, the general manager said Tigo achieved a record 30% growth in its subscriber base last year with the number of customers rising from seven to nine million.
“We want to continue expanding and maintaining the quality of our network coverage by rolling out 787 new sites countrywide. Some of the sites will be 3G and 4G, which means increasing penetration to the rural areas as well increasing access to data for our customers.” she said noting that Tigo has over 2,000 sites countrywide.
Other plans for 2015, according to Ms Tiano, include doubling the number of Tigo customer care shops from the current 42 to 100 in an attempt to bring Tigo services closer to the customers.
To continue driving digital transformation in the country, She said, Tigo intends to unveil more innovative services this year citing the recently launched Tigo Music that continues to revolutionize the music industry by giving Tigo customers unlimited access to local and international music through their phones.
This unique service followed several firsts by Tigo last year such as becoming the first telecom to offer international money transfer with currency conversion and the first to offer free Facebook in Kiswahili. Tigo in 2014 also integrated its mobile financial services with leading banks to enable its customers deposit or withdraw money from their bank accounts to the wallets. A similar partnership was also established to give Tigo Pesa users an opportunity to send or receive money from across other networks.
She added that Tigo will continue to support community development initiatives through its corporate social responsibility portfolio in 2015 mentioning education, health, women and child care as being sectors earmarked for this.
Source:Tigo Tanzania
Tigo dishes out 80m/- to Kilimanjaro Marathon
THE Kilimanjaro Marathon for the first time will see Tigo Tanzania partnering with other companies to hold the internationally-recognised charity event that seeks to raise funds for good causes, such as environmental conservation around Mt. Kilimanjaro.
According to a statement made available to the ‘Daily News’, the telecommunications company will be sponsoring the Tigo Kili Half- Marathon, a 21- kilometre race, on March 1 and pledged to commit over 80m/- to the major event.
“Tigo’s spirit of participation in this event is borne out of commitment to the development of sports and every aspect of the social and economic of this country, including environmental conservation,” the newly appointed Tigo Tanzania Interim General Manager, Cecile Tiano, said in the statement.
Tiano said that Tigo recognised the ‘northern zone’ as a commercial and tourist hub in addition to being a gateway to other countries and has targeted the zone its investment commitment.
The northern zone which comprises Arusha, Manyara, Kilimanjaro, Singida and Dodoma regions has, according to Tiano, been a major beneficiary of Tigo’s sponsorships and corporate responsibility initiatives which seek to directly turn around the social welfare of the people in the areas of education, health, environment, entrepreneurship, job creation, arts and sports.
“Through our initiatives such as the Tigo Ngorongoro Run held every year in Karatu, the company, with its partners, has been able to inject and mobilize resources which go into buying mosquito nets that are distributed to schools and buying equipment for hospitals in Karatu district,” she said.
Tiano said that this year they plan to set up over 748 sites countrywide out of which 300 will be in the northern zone (already 334 towers exists) in a bid to ensure that residents of every village in the five regions get connected to their services.
At an average cost of 100,000 US dollars per site, this translates to investing over 75 million US dollars in the country with 30 million US dollars going into the five regions, Tiano said.
“This means giving more people new social and economic opportunities, integrating them to the global economy through internet access and, in the process, enabling them to embrace a digital lifestyle,” she remarked.
In the past two years, Tigo has been investing an average of two million US dollars per week on its infrastructure countrywide.
This investment has been put into expanding its networks by building new sites, even in the remotest villages, upgrading its network to 3G to enable people access data, training their workforce and giving back to communities through their corporate responsibility programmes.
Source:DailyNews
Tigo announced today that its General Manager, Diego Gutierrez, will be leaving the company
Tigo announced today that its General Manager, Diego Gutierrez, will be leaving the company on 1st April to take on a new role in the group. He will be replaced on an interim basis by Cecile Tiano who begins work in Tanzania this week.
Mr Gutierrez has enjoyed considerable success with Tigo in Tanzania. Having joined from Tigo Ghana in 2009, initially as Deputy General Manager, and then as General Manager from 2012, he has been instrumental in driving Tigo’s progress. In his time, it grew by 100% to over eight million customers, successfully rolled out 3G and MFS, and became a powerhouse of innovation with developments such as free Facebook, Tigo Pesa returning cash to users, interoperability and cross-border-payments with currency conversion.
With such expertise in mobile money, Diego is to become Millicom’s Head of Mobile Financial Services for Latin America.
Cecile Tiano joins the team having most recently been Tigo’s interim General Manager in DR Congo. Prior to that she was a consultant to both Tigo Ghana and Tigo Tanzania having previously worked in senior roles in telecoms, media and internet.
Commenting on the changes, Arthur Bastings, Executive Vice-President for Africa of Millicom, said “Diego has done a fantastic job at Tigo – providing real innovation in the market with a number of world firsts. Partly as a result of his contributions, Tanzania has become a world leader in the Mobile Financial Services space and the internet has become an affordable reality for broad parts of the population. We wish him well in his new role as we welcome Cecile to Tanzania. She is a very accomplished business executive and I know she will continue to provide strong leadership to the team.”
source: Tigo Tanzania
TIGO TANZANIA AND DEEZER LAUNCH 36 MILLION-TRACK MUSIC STREAMING SERVICE
Dar es Salaam, January 13th, 2015. Tigo today announced the launch of Tigo Music through a partnership with Deezer, the international music streaming service that will provide Tanzanians with unlimited music experience.
Announcing the launch of the new service in Dar es Salaam, Tigo Brand Manager, William Mpinga said through pre-paid data bundles from January 24, Tigo customers will be able to access more than 36 million tracks, including African and Tanzanian artistes, on their phones and tablets.
Additionally, Tigo will also be sourcing exciting new and local content through a new venture with the digital music company, Africa Music Rights, which funds, acquires and manages music rights across the African continent. Mpinga said.
There will be a launch ceremony for Tigo Music at Dar es Salaam’s Leaders Club grounds on January 24 where members of the public will be treated to live performances by leading local musicians such as Diamond Platinum, Ali Kiba, Professor J, Vanessa Mdee, Ben Paul, Isha Mashauzi, Malaika Band, Khadija Kopa, Yamoto Band, Msondo, Sikinde among others.
Apart from giving Tigo customers unlimited access to local and international music, Tigo Music, according to Mr. Mpinga, will accord local artists with an opportunity earn extra payment from their songs listened to through the service. Tigo will provide them training on how to use and benefit from the service, he said.
“Tigo Tanzania is a company built on innovation. We are excited to be the first telecommunication company in Tanzania to give our customers such access to unlimited music.
“As a digital lifestyle brand, our goal is to impact the music industry by providing a platform that not only allows for easy access to content by local artists, but also train our musicians on important issues such as intellectual property rights and marketing. This is our way of supporting local talent and growing the local music industry.” he added.
Tigo will introduce a variety of music service packages which will allow customers access through *148*00#.
The introduction of Tigo Music in Tanzania follows the success of its launch in Ghana in 2014 and Latin America in 2013. It has since become an integral part of people’s daily digital lives and synonymous with live music events headlined by some of the world’s best-known artists as well as with close-up studio recordings.
Music streaming is the fastest growing area for the global music industry and music content is already the second most popular mobile phone feature in sub-Saharan Africa.
Tigo Pesa users in Tanzania receive $1.8m profit
Telecoms company Tigo today announced its Tigo Pesa mobile money customers would receive the first of its regular quarterly payments worth US$1.8 million.
Three months ago Tigo paid a profit of US$ 8.64 million accumulated in the Tigo Pesa Trust Account and became the first mobile money service in the world to pay profit to its users.
Tigo General Manager Diego Gutierrez said “This second round of profit disbursement shows the company’s continued commitment to benefit and improve the lives of Tanzanians. The payment goes to all Tigo Pesa users including super agents, retail agents and individual users of the service.
“The first payment was bigger due to the fact that the profit had been accumulated over a period of three and a half years. This second payment is the profit accumulated from funds held in trust in commercial banks for three months in the quarter July to September 2014.”
Tigo Pesa has a subscriber base of 3.6 million customers and the average return to a customer will vary based on their average daily balance in their Tigo Pesa e-wallet. This applies to super-agents, retail agents and individual customers.
It also announced next installment for the quarter of October to December 2014 will be paid out in February 2015.
Source:humanipo
Millicom launches mobile learning facilities in Rwanda ,followed by additional launches in Tanzania
International telecommunications company Millicom has announced the launch of EduMe English in Rwanda, providing Tigo subscribers with an on demand or subscription service for learning the English language.
The programme in Rwanda will be followed by additional launches in Tanzania and El Salvador.
“EduMe English is a new and unique way to learn English on any mobile phone, offering the student the opportunity to decide when and where to learn,” Millicom said in a statement.
The EduMe English programme combines listening, reading and speech training through text lessons, quizzes, and audio lessons that gradually increase in difficulty.
“We are very excited to offer millions of people in Africa and Latin America the chance to educate themselves with the help of mobile- and internet technology,” said Hans-Holger Albrecht, Millicom chief executive officer (CEO) and president .
“We are starting by offering English language training as this is a language that gives people more opportunities and connects people across the world. EduMe English is a groundbreaking new product where people can learn English anytime anywhere. Millicom is all about promoting a digital lifestyle and transforming lives: education is integral to this.”
An entrepreneurship course will also be launched through the company’s EduMe Business School brand to Tigo subscribers in Tanzania during the third quarter of 2014.
“The course is developed in co-operation with GSMA, the worldwide mobile industry body and will mark the introduction of the first purely mobile vocational business school in Africa,” Millicom said.
source:humanipo
Tigo supports girls’ ICT training in Dar
Young women and girls have been called upon to take up ICT studies in order to improve their computer skills as well as become contributors to the socio-economic development of the country.
This was said on Saturday by Tigo’s Corporate Responsibility Manager Woinde Shisael while talking to a group of 100 secondary school girls during a special ICT training which was organized by ICT non-for profit organization, Apps & Girls, one of the recipients of Tigo Reach for Change Social entrepreneurship challenge.
“ICT is the fastest growing industry today and more jobs are created in this industry than any other. ICT has been identified as the industry that will lead forward world economies, improve lives of families across the globe and make the planet a smaller, more accessible place,” said Shisael.
She added, “Tigo’s corporate responsibility focus is on empowering the community with the use of digital tools. This is why I urge more women and girls to take a more prominent role in this process. It is a large misconception that girls cannot be good at ICT. The sky is always the limit for them.”
This project is supporting only girls because of the obvious gender gap in the ICT ecosystem for instance; few girls opt for ICT related courses, very few women in ICT related jobs and even fewer as ICT/technology entrepreneurs.
Meanwhile, the Founder of Apps & Girls Ms. Carolyne Ekyarisiima who is also one of the recipients of Tigo Reach for Change $25,000 award this year, said that the training which was focused on imparting girls with website design skills aimed at inspiring and motivating girls to get involved in ICT.
“Due to the low level of girl’s participation in ICT, I decided to start Apps & Girls as a mechanism in closing this gap. I am also glad that with the support of Tigo, more than 100 girls will go back to home today with more knowledge of ICT and sharpened skills,” Ekyarisiima added.
According to Ekyarisiima the workshop aimed at enabling girls to build a very simple html website, code in html, understand the fundamentals of Html language and understand web technology.
The schools which participated included Jangwani Girls, Kibasila and Kisutu. The students were from age 14-18.
“People are making a living out of blogs nowadays, getting paid by Google and Yahoo, and frankly speaking blogging for example doesn't need a University degree or Masters to run. Teaching them Html as a starting point is a right thing to do, it is a very simple language to be understood by beginners who know nothing about coding and interesting for the age group,” concluded Ekyarisiima.
WorldRemit, Tigo Tanzania in mobile wallet deal
Online money transfer service WorldRemit has partnered operator Tigo Tanzania to allow individuals sending money to friends and family living in Tanzania to have the funds delivered to a Tigo Pesa mobile wallet.
The deal is available for customers sending money from the 35 countries in which Tigo has a presence, with the companies saying the deal complements existing receive options such as bank transfer, cash pickup and mobile airtime top-up.
“I am delighted that WorldRemit is now able to offer Tigo Pesa as a way of receiving money in Tanzania. Today people use their money in lots of different ways and financial services need to respond to that,” said Ismail Ahmed, WorldRemit chief executive officer (CEO).
“At WorldRemit we aim to give people as many money transfer options as possible, from bank accounts and cash pickup to mobile wallets and airtime top-up. This is the sort of choice and flexibility that people demand in a modern, connected world.”
WorldRemit is an online service that allows people to send money around the world quickly and at low cost, using a computer, smartphone or tablet.
Migrants from Tanzania sent US$75 million home in 2013, according to the World Bank, with the same research finding remittance payments to Tanzania from overseas had more than doubled since 2008.
Source:humanipo
Tigo introduces affordable smart phones to its customers
Tigo Tanzania announced today a partnership with a global phone manufacturing company, Huawei which enables customers of the Tanzanian mobile company to access high quality smart phones at an affordable price.
The deal gives customers an opportunity to access Huawei Y330 for entry level users at a highly discounted price of Tsh 130,000/- per handset and Huawei 530 for experienced level user wishing to upgrade at a cost of Tsh 195,000.
Launching the new offer in Dar es Salaam, Tigo Head of Data and Devices David Zacharia, said buyers of either phone will be offered 600 minutes airtime, 8,000 free SMS and 1.5GB all valued at Tsh 30,000 during the first month of purchase. In the next six months a customer buying any monthly pack worth Tsh 15,000 will get another Tsh 15,000 monthly on net pack for free, he added.
“What this package means to our customers is that after six months, a customer would have received full refund of the money spent on buying the phone through this range of free benefits,” Zacharia said
Zacharia said the move aims at enabling more Tanzanians to own smart phones and in the process, enjoy a broad range of services only accessible through the gadget including free access to Facebook that the Tigo introduced recently.
“We are also certain that this offer will lead to increased smartphone penetration in the country especially among the youth who are keen to enjoy the digital lifestyle that our company promotes, the general manager said.
The new deal comes two months since Tigo announced a ground breaking partnership with Facebook which gives customers of the mobile company free access to Facebook services.
Speaking at the event, Huawei’s South-East Africa Regional Brand Manager, Azalea Du, said Huawei Y330 and 530 are youth targeted smartphones of which his company is pleased to introduce to Tigo customers.
“We are certain, based on our experience elsewhere, that the youth of this country and other Tigo customers will find these two products quite satisfying in providing them with the digital lifestyle solutions that they want, Du said.
Tigo Tanzania’s Obedi Laiser in America as nominee for global awards
An employee of Tigo Tanzania, Obedi Laiser, the Finance and Risk Manager – Mobile Financial Services, is among those nominated for a global award for his performance at the company and is the USA this week for a ceremony organised by Tigo’s owner, Millicom.
Tigo’s General Manager, Diego Gutierrez, nominated Laiser, for the awards and said he had shown real determination as an individual and team member through his contribution to Tigo in the past year.
“We are really proud of Laiser and his nomination and everyone in Tigo Tanzania will be cheering him on next week. We wish him good luck,” Gutierrez said.
At the event in the USA this week, 21 nominees from all Millicom’s operations and headquarters in the fifteen countries across Africa and Latin America where Millicom operates will be considered for seven awards, including Employee of the Year.
Tigo’s General Manager, Diego Gutierrez, nominated Laiser, for the awards and said he had shown real determination as an individual and team member through his contribution to Tigo in the past year.
“We are really proud of Laiser and his nomination and everyone in Tigo Tanzania will be cheering him on next week. We wish him good luck,” Gutierrez said.
At the event in the USA this week, 21 nominees from all Millicom’s operations and headquarters in the fifteen countries across Africa and Latin America where Millicom operates will be considered for seven awards, including Employee of the Year.
Katika Picha, Mfanyakazi bora wa mwaka wa Tigo Tanzania Obedi Laiser akikabidhiwa tiketi ya ndege na Mkurugenzi Mkuu wa Tigo Diego Gutierrez kwenda kushiriki kinyanganyiro cha Global Award ambayo ni zawadi ya juu zaidi kutolewa kwa wafanyakazi bora wa kampuni zinazomilikiwa na kampuni ya Millicom. Tuzo zinatolewa wiki Miami, Florida nchini Marekani.
About Tigo:
Tigo started operations in 1994 as the first cellular network in Tanzania. It now covers 30 regions in mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar. Tigo strives to be Tanzania’s most innovative mobile phone operator, offering services ranging from affordable mobile voice communications to high speed Internet access and mobile financial services through Tigo Pesa.
Tigo is part of Millicom which provides affordable, widely accessible and readily available cellular telephone services to more than 50 million customers in 13 emerging markets in Africa and Latin America.
The success of Tigo is based on the "Triple A" strategy, which stands for Affordability, Accessibility and Availability. We create a world where mobile services are affordable, accessible and available everywhere and to all. This guarantees that our subscribers experience the best services at the most affordable rates throughout all 30 regions in both Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar.
Source:TigoTanzania
Phone companies partner on e-money transactions
Tigo, Airtel and Zantel on Wednesday signed an agreement allowing its customers in Tanzania send money to each other on their mobile handsets.
"The service will start by end of this month. This is the first agreement in Africa to adopt such 'interoperability' whereby Mobile network operators allows their customer to send and receive money across the network and the e-money goes direct to the respective customer e-wallet account, " it was announced on Wednesday.
CHIEF Executive Officers of three mobile phone companies (from left to right), Zantel’s, Prapat Ghose, Tigo’s, Diego Gutierrez and Airtel Managing Director, Sunil Colaso join hands together to mark the launch of a new Mobile Financial System (MFS) Interoperability Partnership at a short ceremony held in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday.
The joint press statement also listed other benefits customers of the three companies would enjoy as the ability to send money at more affordable rates and in a simplified way which does not require use of PIN codes when making withdrawals as had been the practice before signing of the agreement.
Tigo's General Manager for Tanzania, Mr Diego Gutierrez, commented, "We are delighted to work with Airtel and Zantel to extend the mobile money universe in Tanzania.
"With even more transactions possible, our customers' money is made even more safe and secure with this technology. Just as we co-operate with our competitors on voice calls and text to help our customers, so we hope to be able to do the same with mobile money and help make Tanzania a global pioneer in digital financial inclusion."
On his part Airtel Managing Director Sunil Colaso said: "Airtel is committed to introduce to our customers new innovative services that look beyond competition, a tremendous evolution to ensure mobile inclusion that is sought by many Tanzanians taking into account our reach across the country."
"Today's partnership will bring our customers closer to mobile service and ease their use of mobile money services," added Mr Colaso.
Zantel's Managing Director Pratap Ghose, said "Zantel has a strong commitment to excellence and innovation, and thus is happy about this partnership which will enable all our customers to conduct their businesses efficiently and with ease across Tanzania.
"Zantel is proud to have been the pioneer in launching Mobile payments in 2008; and hence will work with the industry and the regulatory bodies to ensure that we offer 'best in class' service to our customers", added Mr Ghose.
Source:Dailynews
