Experts urge Tanzanians to leverage rural communication towers for economic growth

TANZANIA: ACROSS-SECTION of experts and communication stakeholders have urged Tanzanians especially those in rural areas to make a positive use of communication towers that have been installed in their areas by engaging in various businesses and look for markets for their farm produces.

The government through Universal Communications Service Access Fund (UCSAF), has been constructing communication towers in various parts of the country, a move that stimulate both social and economic development.

The experts said access to communication network and internet is a major step in ensuring availability of markets and building an informed society.
Commenting on the topic “what is the position of internet services in the development of the country,” Tigo Tanzania’s Director of Network Planning and Engineering, Mr Semvua Kissenge said citizens should take advantage of internet services in boosting their businesses.

The discussion was coordinated by one of the local newspapers this week through X-Space. He said the internet service has a great role in the country’s development as it promotes financial inclusion which is crucial for the country’s economic growth.
According to Bank of Tanzania (BOT) the landscape of financial inclusion in Tanzania shows that recently the country has witnessed a remarkable transformation in the financial sector, leveraging the rapid growth of the adoption of technologies in developing and distributing financial services and products.

Mr Kissenge said Tigo has been working with the government to make sure the service reaches as many Tanzanians as possible, particularly in rural areas to ensure no one is left behind.

Last year, President Samia Suluhu Hassan witnessed the signing of two contracts worth 275bn/- (USD 122 million) for the construction of 758 communication towers in 713 districts in Mainland Tanzania.The contractors will also upgrade the capacity of 304 towers which now offer 2G internet to 3G, 4G or more.

The deals signed in Dodoma involved UCSAF and telecom companies operating in Tanzania. The contracts aimed at ensuring the availability of communication services in rural and urban under-served areas.
Mr Semvua’s view was seconded by Head of Research at the Aga Khan University (AKU) Prof Fredrick Mtenzi who emphasised on the need of raising awareness among the public to properly utilise internet and communication technology for income generation.

“Raising public awareness on appropriate internet use will help them to understand how to use internet for economic purposes, if there is more awareness on the matter among citizens, internet will contribute greatly to the country’s development,” he said.

For his part, the Business Editor for Mwananchi Communications Limited, Mr Ephrahim Bahemu described internet service as a component of human existence saying currently the service contributes greatly socially, politically and economically.

According to the available statistics, Tanzania has a total of 35.9 million internet users as of December last year. This represents a 4.1 per cent rise from the 34.8 million subscribers that the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) recorded in October 2022.