For digital uptake behaviour change is a must
Four incidents inform my casual study on how soon Tanzania and Tanzanians can expect digital money to become a dominant mode of payment going into the future.
I say this against the background of the Tanzanian Financial Services Conference and Exhibition, which opened its doors yesterday and is expected to close tomorrow after three days of deliberations on among other things, the role technology can play in ease of access to services, especially financial service interventions with ease.
Trawling on the social media network Twitter, I came across a reputed journalist voicing his opinion on how Uber and Taxify have taken the largest part of the market of the traditional taxis.
A few days later, I am waiting for a BRT bus and realise that I am running late so hail an Uber cab off Morogoro road to take me to the Msasani offices of the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation when these two young men begin discussing loudly about the benefits of Taxify and Uber and conclude by saying “the beauty of these two systems is that they bring to you the clients and one does not have to wait at a specific bay or spot. In fact, I no longer pay for nor have a Taxi bay.”
My mind went back to one of the popular soup eateries in Sinza where three years ago (sounds like a long time ago in mobile money terms), I tried to pay for their Sh7,500 bill via mobile money and was met with a situation which quickly unfolded from a little drama into a circus that attracted a crowd of onlookers because they did not accept my request and did not want me to walk away and cash the money without leaving something of value like ahem, a mobile phone.
In Oyster Bay at a popular road side pub that has since been demolished (for being on the roadside) my guests and I were treated to a story by the lady serving us that they have a merchant till number but there were two reasons they preferred cash.
According to this narrative the owner of the joint preferred cash because it aided and abetted his “tax avoidance’ escapade and on the other hand the beauties who serve customers, she said, preferred cash because “it allows us to rate the customers. You see when a man pays by cash he produces a wallet and in the process we bar maids can weigh how well off the man is. You see we are paid a meagre salary and depend on the side cash we make from these customers.”
It is your guess what service the ladies of the bar (bar maids) provide to their customers that allows them to make ends meet but there you go-another reason why cash is king.
These narratives alongside research that has been conducted by among others Financial Sector Deepening Tanzania are clear irrefutable evidence that we still need, and opportunity exists, for behaviour change communication as well as financial literacy education.
The opinion by the journalist also goes to suggest that inspite of the many interventions in agriculture, access to financial services, health, education, transport and deepening access to rural finance, there is a significant resistance to change couched under the sort of language that was music to our years during Ujamaa and the 15 odd years that followed-beberu, wanyonyaji (imperialist suckers) language which made sense to the political economy of that era.
Substantial benefit
Interesting to see that beneficiaries such as the two boda boda operators that I chanced to overhear at a BRT service could see the substantial benefit from the yes of the operator who certainly do not see these new aggregators as the enemy but as value added to their business interest.
For those of us who regularly use public transport, Taxify and Uber represent a cheap way of transportation compared to the vehicle slapping old school drivers one finds in Dar es Salaam city centre who price their service based on the looks of the client. It is imperative that perception, attitude, behaviour and readiness to embrace change must be the new direction.
