Fintech Map Tanzania: Homegrown Pure-Play Ventures Dominate Tanzania’s Fintech Ecosystem

Tanzania is home to a growing fintech ecosystem, comprising 171 players operating across payments, digital banking, lending, banking infrastructure, and more, according to new research by Cofounders Notebook, a weekly newsletter covering fintech and technology in Africa.

Led by Reuben Mwatosya, Co-Founder and COO of Tanzania-based financial infrastructure company Tembo, Cofounders Notebook tackles tech-led businesses, startups, venture capital (VC), and digital financial services with a heavy emphasis on East African markets.

Its Fintech Map of Tanzania, released in July, offers a comprehensive overview of the Tanzanian fintech ecosystem, identifying, classifying and documenting fintech companies operating in the country. This map not only features homegrown fintech startups but also regulated financial institutions, infrastructure providers, multinational fintech firms, enterprise software companies and technology firms that are of relevance to the domestic fintech sector. These companies comprise Tanzanian-founded ventures, regional African fintech companies operating in Tanzania, and international fintech companies serving Tanzanian customers.

Native fintech companies dominate the ecosystem

According to the research, Tanzania’s fintech ecosystem is dominated by native fintech companies, which make up 90.1% of all industry stakeholders with 155 ventures, followed by alternative lenders, totaling 10 companies, and mobile money providers with 6 companies.

Among fintech-native firms, the payment vertical leads the market with a 70.3% share and 109 companies. This vertical comprises 62 payment system providers, 26 remittance and cross-border trade payment services providers, and 21 payment aggregators. Notable names include Selcom Paytech, AzamPay, and Pesapal Tanzania:

Selcom Paytech is a major payment players providing a wide range of electronic payment products and services focusing on digital, card and card-less processing services. It claims a network of more than 25,000 agents, 100,000 merchants, and 40 banking partners.
AzamPay specializes in developing end-to-end online payment solutions for companies operating across East Africa, including developer-first gateway, no-code links and consumer wallets.
Pesapal Tanzania helps businesses in Tanzania accept payments online, via mobile money, and through point-of-sale (POS) terminals.

After payments, alternative financing is the second biggest fintech vertical in Tanzania, boasting 21 digital lending platforms and a share of 13.5%. Notable brands in this category include Watu, MOGO Tanzania, and Branch:

Watu is an asset finance company that provides accessible loans for motorcycles, three-wheelers, and smartphones. Originally from Kenya, Watu claims it has provided over 2 million loans across eight countries, reaching more than 8 million people.
MOGO Tanzania provides accessible vehicle and asset financing, specializing in loans for motorcycles, tuk-tuks, cars, smartphones, and logbook loans. It’s part of Eleving Group, an international fintech company operating in over 17 countries on three continents.
Branch operates a digital mobile lending and personal finance platform in Tanzania, offering smartphone-based instant loans up to TZS 1 million (US$377) with fast approvals directly through their Android mobile application.

Digital accounting and tax is another prominent fintech vertical, accounting for 11.6% of all fintech-native companies in Tanzania with 18 companies. Notable companies include SoftNet Technologies, and Pergamon Group:

SoftNet Technologies is a homegrown information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider that serves clients across various industries including government, telecommunications, as well as banking and finance.
Pergamon Group is another ICT solutions company offering a wide range of products across POS and fiscal solutions, security enhancement, office automation, and banking cash solutions. It has a presence in Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya.

Finally, the credit scoring, artificial intelligence (AI) and embedded finance vertical boasts seven providers, accounting for a 4.5% of the market. Prominent ventures include JUMO, and Kuunda:

JUMO operates a banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform using AI to power digital credit and savings in emerging African markets. Headquartered in South Africa, the company operates across several African countries, including Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, and claims it has served more than 39 million customers, disbursing over 313 million loans. In Tanzania, JUMO powers products such as Timiza Akiba, a mobile money savings solution on Airtel Money, and the short-term credit product Tigo Nivushe.
Kuunda is a B2B digital fintech infrastructure company that provides embedded working-capital and micro-lending solutions, including instant access liquidity, and growth financing solutions.

Homegrown ventures lead the market

The research also revealed that Tanzania’s fintech ecosystem is led by homegrown companies. Of the 155 core fintech providers identified, 99 originate from Tanzania (63.9%), reflecting a dynamic startup market domestically.

These companies are followed by Kenya, represented by 16 companies and a share of 10.3%, Nigeria with nine ventures and a 5.8% share, and the UK with seven and a share of 4.5%. This underscores the attractiveness of the Tanzanian market to fintech firms.

Other jurisdictions represented include the US (4 pure-play fintech companies), South Africa (4), Uganda (3), China (3), India (2), the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (2), as well as Ghana, Hong Kong, Ivory Coast, Singapore and Uruguay, each with one.

Prominent foreign ventures serving the Tanzanian market include Flutterwave, Thunes, dLocal, and Boku:

Flutterwave is a company headquartered in the US that provides payment infrastructure for merchants and payment service providers across Africa. With a valuation of US$3.2 billion, Flutterwave is the most valuable fintech company in the continent.
Thunes is a payment services provider from Singapore that enables financial institutions and global businesses to make payments in real-time in over 140 countries and more than 90 currencies. It serves firms such as Uber, Deliveroo, Grab, and WeChat, connecting them directly to over 12 billion mobile wallets, stablecoin wallets and bank accounts, as well as 15 billion cards.
dLocal is a fintech startup from Uruguay that provides cross-border payments in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.
Boku is a mobile payment company headquartered in the UK specializing in local payment methods that serves more than 60 countries and jurisdictions.