NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, September 12, 2014

Millicom, a Luxemburg-headquartered telecoms group with operations in Africa and Latin America, claimed a world first after launching a mobile money service in Tanzania which offers users the opportunity to automatically earn a return on their balance direct to their wallet without the need for a separate registration.

The service, called Tigo Wekeza (‘Tigo Invests’), will allow over 3.5 million Tigo Pesa users to benefit from quarterly interest payments based on the balance held in their account.

Millicom stresses that Tigo Pesa users will have the option to nominate a non-profit beneficiary in line with their personal cultural beliefs.

“This innovation reflects our commitment to develop mobile money into an even more attractive service and will extend financial inclusion further,” said Hans-Holger Albrecht (pictured), Millicom’s chief executive.