Tigo Tanzania, a brand of Swedish telecom provider Millicom, recently announced the launch of a “nano-lending product” named Tigo Nivushe. Its loan size is targeted to average TSH 10,000 (USD 5) and can be accessed by Tigo mobile wallet users with no collateral required. As they build up credit histories, customers are allowed to borrow larger amounts with lower fees.
Ruan Swanepoel, Tigo’s Head of Mobile Financial Services, said: “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 […]”.
As of March 2016 Tigo Tanzania has approximately 10 million registered subscribers and directly and indirectly employs around 300,000 Tanzanians. As of December 2015, Millicom is present in 17 countries in Latin America and Africa and reported assets of USD 10.4 billion.
By Kevin van den Brink, Research Associate
About Tigo Tanzania
Tigo Tanzania was founded in 1994 in Dodoma, Tanzania as a brand of Sweden-based telecom provider Millicom. It provides several mobile (financial) services. As of March 2016 Tigo Tanzania has approximately 10 million registered subscribers and directly and indirectly employs around 300,000 Tanzanians.
About Millicom
Founded in 1990, Millicom International Cellular is based in Sweden and provides mobile phone network access, television, online and mobile financial services in 17 countries in Latin America and Africa largely through the brand name Tigo. As of December 2015, Millicom reported assets of USD 10.4 billion.
Sources and Additional Resources
[1] Information provided by the African Press Organization directly to MicroCapital
MicroCapital Profile: Tigo Tanzania
MicroCapital Profile: Millicom
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