EP.03 | S2 | 25 Years, 22 Million Lives: Vodacom Tanzania CEO Philip Besiimire on Transforming Connectivity

A Twenty-Five Year Journey of Growth and Purpose

Philip Besiimire described Vodacom Tanzania’s twenty-five-year story as one built on determination, passion, and a strong sense of purpose. The company has grown from near-zero mobile connectivity to more than twenty-two million connected users, enabling access to information, commerce, health, education, and financial services. Besiimire emphasized the dedication of Vodacom teams and the sustained adoption of innovation by Tanzanian consumers as key factors in the company’s long-term success.

Beyond business milestones, initiatives like M-Mama, a technology-driven maternal health emergency system connecting women in distress to community drivers, exemplify how Vodacom leverages technology to address development challenges.

Financial Inclusion and M-Pesa Evolution

Vodacom Tanzania has transformed financial services through M-Pesa, now approaching nineteen years in operation. Mobile money adoption has expanded formal financial inclusion from under 26 percent five years ago to over 76 percent today. With more than ten million active users, Vodacom processes over three trillion Tanzanian shillings per month. Beyond person-to-person transfers, customers now access short-term credit, pay for services, obtain micro-loans, and manage businesses more efficiently.

Policy, Regulation, and Digital Skills Empowerment

Besiimire stressed that African governments must balance taxation for revenue with policies that enable economic growth. To achieve Tanzania’s Vision 2050, policy certainty, harmonized regulation, and investment incentives for digital infrastructure, affordable devices, and broadband expansion are critical. 

“Whilst on the other hand, there are all these promises of digital enablement and digital inclusion, and expanding access. So I think that’s really the challenge for governments: finding the right balance between revenue growth, revenue collection, and actually growing the economy through enabling policies – for example, lowering the barriers to access, which include infrastructure deployment.

So I think, for me, it’s about harmonization of those policies, harmonization of regulatory demands, and trying to make sure that we find the right balance between the objective to collect revenue to obviously provide services to the citizenry, but also allow the sector and industry to grow in such a way that we all lead up to the 2050 vision that has been articulated.”
–  Philip Besiimire, Chief Executive Officer, Vodacom Tanzania 

Concurrently, Vodacom drives digital skills programs, particularly for girls and youth, through initiatives like Code Like a Girl, and mobile computer labs

AI, Technology Diversification, and Sectoral Impact

Artificial intelligence is increasingly integrated across Vodacom’s customer experience, network operations, and enterprise services. AI in call centers enables faster, personalized support, while AI-powered network monitoring allows engineers to resolve issues proactively. Besiimire emphasized ethical AI practices to safeguard data and trust.

Vodacom is also diversifying beyond mobile services into IoT, HealthTech, AgriTech, utilities, mining, and smart cities, with applications such as water leakage detection, environmental monitoring, agriculture platforms, health information systems, telemedicine, and traffic management pilots.

Network Modernization, 5G, and the Future of Tanzania’s Digital Landscape

Vodacom is investing nearly one hundred million dollars in network modernization, expanding 4G coverage, strengthening 5G capacity, and adopting energy-efficient infrastructure to reduce operational costs and carbon footprint. Fiber deployment to homes and businesses is scaling, and satellite technology is integrated to reach remote areas. Enterprise and fixed wireless applications will drive initial 5G adoption, with consumer uptake growing as device prices fall.

Looking ahead, Besiimire identified three priorities for Tanzania’s digital future: policy certainty to unlock long-term investment, lower device costs to accelerate smartphone penetration, and sustained investment in digital skills, particularly AI and ICT.