Airtel Money’s market share dips by 5pc in fourth quarter

What you need to know:

A report by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) showed that the Airtel Money market share declined from 32 per cent in the third quarter to 27 per cent in the last quarter.

Dar es Salaam. Airtel Tanzania mobile money subscriptions market share shrank by 5 per cent during the fourth quarter of 2017 compared with that in the previous quarter.

A report by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) showed that the Airtel Money market share declined from 32 per cent in the third quarter to 27 per cent in the last quarter.

The report showed that the number of mobile money accounts declined to 5,875,149 from 6,951,585 during the period.

However, TigoPesa market share climbed from 28 per cent to 31 per cent during the same period.

The number of TigoPesa accounts hit 6,863,349 from 6,107,477.

However, Airtel recorded a growth of voice telecom subscriptions from 10,574,644 to 10,855,955.

The monthly subscriptions net addition for Airtel was higher than those of other operators, climbing to 160,418 from 114,431.

TCRA statistics show that data services increased from 34 per cent in 2015 to 40 per cent in 2016.

Airtel Tanzania is among mobile operators preparing to issue their initial public offerings at the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange to comply with legislation.

Airtel Tanzania registered the highest number of subscribers during the second quarter of 2017, according to TCRA figures.

The report showed that telecommunications companies registered a total of 1,059,163 million new mobile money customers between April and June.

Airtel Tanzania accounted for 98 per cent of the new mobile money customers, registering 1,038,193 subscribers.