Tanzania Investment and Consultant Group Ltd

| Economic Research Centre

Growth of Merchant Transactions in Tanzania Trends and Insights (2020–2024)
April 3, 2025  
Tanzania's merchant ecosystem has experienced remarkable growth, with the number of registered merchants rising from 33,037 in 2020 to over 1.3 million in 2024. This rapid expansion has driven a surge in transactions, increasing from 24 million in 2020 to over 329 million in 2024, with transaction values soaring from TZS 1.62 trillion to TZS […]

Tanzania's merchant ecosystem has experienced remarkable growth, with the number of registered merchants rising from 33,037 in 2020 to over 1.3 million in 2024. This rapid expansion has driven a surge in transactions, increasing from 24 million in 2020 to over 329 million in 2024, with transaction values soaring from TZS 1.62 trillion to TZS 26.9 trillion over the same period. Dar es Salaam leads in merchant adoption, contributing significantly to the rise in digital payments, followed by Mwanza and Mbeya. These figures highlight the increasing role of merchants in Tanzania’s digital economy, reflecting broader economic growth and financial inclusion.

The data in Annex K: Merchant Statistics provides a detailed breakdown of merchant distribution, transaction volume, and transaction value across different regions of Tanzania for the years 2020 to 2024.

1. Merchant Distribution

  • Merchant distribution by region: This table outlines the number of merchants by region for 2020–2024, showing growth in the number of merchants in each area. For instance:
    • Dar es Salaam stands out with significant growth, increasing from 13,164 merchants in 2020 to 394,863 merchants in 2024.
    • Mwanza also shows significant growth, from 1,587 merchants in 2020 to 117,530 merchants in 2024.
    • Arusha has the third-largest growth, increasing from 2,973 merchants in 2020 to 67,336 merchants in 2024.
  • Institutional Category Breakdown:
    • Electronic Money Issuers (EMIs) dominate the merchant landscape, growing significantly over the years. They reached 1,189,384 merchants in 2024, compared to 12,103 in 2020.
    • Banks and Financial Institutions and Non-banks (Aggregators) make up the remainder, with the number of banks increasing modestly over the period, while non-banks (aggregators) show large growth, especially in 2024 (reaching 127,803 merchants).

2. Number of Merchant Transactions

  • Transactions by region: This table provides transaction volume data per region for 2020–2024.
    • Dar es Salaam continues to lead in transaction volumes, increasing from 3.5 million transactions in 2020 to 122.8 million in 2024.
    • Mwanza follows closely, with a surge from 3.3 million transactions in 2020 to 32.3 million in 2024.
    • Mbeya also shows growth, reaching 26.99 million transactions in 2024 from 4.2 million in 2020.
  • Institutional Categories:
    • Electronic Money Issuers continue to be the primary driver of transaction volume, with 286.7 million transactions recorded in 2024, up from 19.5 million in 2020.
    • Banks and Financial Institutions show steady growth, while Non-banks (Aggregators) display the largest increase, reflecting a shift in the market.

3. Merchant Transaction Value

  • Transaction Value by Region: The total transaction values in Tanzanian Shillings (TZS) for each region.
    • Dar es Salaam remains the highest in transaction value, reaching 8.83 trillion TZS in 2024, up from 435 billion TZS in 2020.
    • Mwanza follows with 2.33 trillion TZS in 2024, a significant rise from 155.5 billion TZS in 2020.
    • Mbeya shows significant growth, moving from 199.2 billion TZS in 2020 to 1.81 trillion TZS in 2024.
  • Institutional Categories:
    • Electronic Money Issuers (EMIs) lead in transaction value, with 16.16 trillion TZS in 2024.
    • Banks and Financial Institutions also have notable figures, jumping from 300.7 billion TZS in 2020 to 9.6 trillion TZS in 2024.
    • Non-banks (Aggregators) show an increase in transaction value, totaling 1.16 trillion TZS in 2024.

Summary Insights:

  • The number of merchants and transaction volumes are growing at a fast pace, particularly in major cities like Dar es Salaam and Mwanza.
  • The rise in the number of merchants is accompanied by a significant increase in transaction volume and value, with Electronic Money Issuers (EMIs) dominating the market.
  • Non-banks (Aggregators) are playing a larger role in the market, especially in 2024, indicating a shift towards digital financial solutions beyond traditional banks.

Merchant Statistics

Table 1: Merchant Distribution by Region

Region20202021202220232024
Arusha2,9737,78518,27836,67367,336
Dar es Salaam13,16436,109105,306180,165394,863
Dodoma1,3136,30915,40230,63158,941
Geita4542,7709,75919,17935,497
Iringa5594,0608,48315,21533,360
Kagera3786,99812,10121,46444,355
Kaskazini Pemba8349993681,486
Kaskazini Unguja1112352,0981,0613,226
Katavi3269872,9254,5638,554
Kigoma4445,17913,83914,94031,712
Kilimanjaro1,6428,32012,91119,92644,968
Kusini Pemba411691,1014151,388
Kusini Unguja401231,1605591,988
Lindi1531,3933,7704,1408,459
Manyara1141,5044,4369,88713,716
Mara4132,2368,98813,92729,940
Mbeya1,88310,67423,07744,17594,163
Mjini Magharibi2,3434,00318,53210,20927,833
Morogoro1,3386,00216,27728,36752,738
Mtwara2462,1145,3028,90215,678
Mwanza1,5877,94436,87763,074117,530
Njombe3291,9313,84110,83119,885
Pwani4132,61810,02617,09133,347
Rukwa2961,8833,2967,18912,397
Ruvuma3842,5924,5309,32018,087
Shinyanga3802,17610,20320,39835,879
Simiyu1141,4025,1617,00413,469
Singida1629684,94610,84616,459
Songwe1642,0871,1708387,294
Tabora1972,19811,89524,41134,510
Tanga1,0689,30917,28821,57848,745
Total Merchants33,037142,112393,977657,3461,327,803

Merchant Transactions by Region (Number of Transactions)

Region20202021202220232024
Arusha753,5921,372,2664,190,8608,055,9718,464,127
Dar es Salaam3,506,5777,841,63148,847,68298,355,252122,845,440
Dodoma359,2521,367,7405,727,77310,083,11710,359,721
Geita1,341,5071,477,2615,041,6467,398,4258,230,650
Mbeya4,223,6634,756,92714,990,05323,902,59826,986,815
Mwanza3,312,5053,714,81417,815,12534,106,21832,319,729
Tanga159,0051,965,16512,191,98716,546,16214,750,619
Total Transactions24,015,14236,838,882166,436,008301,212,217329,423,002

Merchant Transaction Value (TZS Billion)

Region20202021202220232024
Arusha82.72202.51436.63706.132,748.92
Dar es Salaam435.011,070.684,081.325,973.458,834.36
Dodoma18.45126.55374.61556.11831.28
Geita47.8764.62225.79351.92437.03
Mbeya199.22365.02909.691,395.641,808.80
Mwanza155.53238.82968.971,734.452,329.92
Tanga5.82216.34751.07694.30716.02
Total Value1,622.593,794.7712,103.4317,918.1226,919.33

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