A Dissertation Submitted to the Mzumbe University Dar es Salaam Campus College in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Masters of Business Administration (MBA) of Mzumbe University
The study assessed the contribution of mobile money services towards financial inclusion in Tanzania. Kinondoni Municipality was selected as the area of assessment. In order to appreciate this justification, the study was channeled by four objectives namely: to find out realization of financial inclusion, to examine performance of mobile money services, to determine the relationship between mobile money services and financial inclusion and to determine the relationship between mobile money services and financial inclusion at Kinondoni Municipality. The study employed 100 respondents for the study, comprised with mobile money agents and telecom managers. The researcher utilized purposive sampling method. In this study the questionnaire, interview, documentary review was used to gather secondary data.
The study found that to a large extent the mobile money services in Kinondoni Municipality has been experiencing an increase in withdrawing cash, airtime purchase, funds transfer, depositing cash, bill payments as well as increase in MMS access points as compared to increase in utilizing insurance services, access to credit and an increase in handling international remittances which indicates to be moderate. It was also found that there is a strong significance relationship between mobile money services and financial inclusion at Kinondoni Municipality. It was found that 98% of the variation in the financial inclusion is accounted for by handle international remittances, with drawing cash, funds transfer, savings, airtime purchase, access to credit, depositing cash, and bill payments.
Moreover, it was found that the factors affecting performance of mobile money services. Infrastructures required supporting mobile money such as electricity and phones, fraud, insufficient funds at MMS points, insecurity to operate MMS, complexity in operating MMS, and high transaction costs. Finally, the study recommended that there is a need to improve the services by eradicating or minimizing the challenges, based on the aspects such as insecurity to operate MMS which was found to be greater effect in the provision of MMS. By doing so the services would attract more users to use the services in future hence account into more people into financial inclusion.