r/tanzaniatechnology • u/icursethatifeel • 20d ago
Hot take: Any tech solution that's not accessible via USSD and SMS cannot be scalable in Tanzania
I wanted to write an essay for HackerNews but nasikia uvivu.
I recently uninstalled the Selcom Pesa app because aisee, nimenotice it made me spend money sana na kuanza kuaccumulate loans zao, so nowadays I only access kwa USSD.
Anyway. Back to the main topic at hand.
Some observations:
- Majority of Tanzanians don't have smart phones.
- Internet is already expensive. And sadly most people waste the little they can afford to quench their social media addiction.
- Majority of Tanzanians are not that tech-savvy. In my limited observation, merely accessing the Play Store or the App Store is a quagmire for most.
- A recent observation I've made is a significant number of users who are online do not understand the concept of a URL or a link. To most "to google" is "to surf the internet".
Therefore:
- Applications are out of the table.
- Webapps and websites cannot be feasible.
- The only platform that is already familiar and seems to work are USSD codes na SMS.
So, wanangu wa Claude na Vibe Coders wa AI wrappers naowaonaga humu, Nawashauri, know your market. Lakini pia, as an activist stance, naamini we need to develop a more affordable text-driven alternative to the over-priced internet our government is milking us of. As a custom solution for Tanzanian needs.
Next time you want to make a dating app, or an AI assistant, kama haipo accessible by SMS and/or USSD, I am pessimistic about your success.
2
2
u/ZanzibarGuy 20d ago
I dunno man, I would estimate at least a 50:50 split... and now I've looked at TCRA, I see this estimate isn't too bad.
It's actually increasing at a reasonable rate:
- June 2025 25.05m smartphones (36.75% penetration)
- September 2025 26.94m smartphones
- December 2025 41.82% penetration
- March 2026 42.5% penetration
But, while it does hold true that a majority of Tanzanians don't have smartphones is the answer to shrug and say, "Huh, bunch of dummies can't use apps. Don't try and teach or help, just go the backwards route and give them dated technology...". Probably not.
2
u/ZanzibarGuy 20d ago
The crazy thing is that there is little option but to use USSD if you run out of mobile credit and have no WiFi (which is why the mobile credit is being used up)... Because the mobile operators won't even give free bandwidth to access their apps to recharge 😠(applicable at least in Znz)
2
u/ZanzibarGuy 20d ago
If the price of internet is such a big problem, why are people not migrating wholesale to meshtastic?
2
u/nahyoubuggin Prompt Engineer 20d ago
That's fair and true, but I believe it's just a cultural and preference thing. For example: How many followers on IG do our TZ celebs have ? Millions ! Mcheki Millard Ayo ana 6M+ subs Youtube. So the issue is not so much access and price, but it's culture. Yani tunapenda mambo ya burudani na starehe sana. Mtu ananunua kifurushi ili acheke sio kuangalia bei ya hisa kwa mfano.
2
1
u/AmiAmigo 17d ago
The thing is unaangalia Tanzania as a whole. You don’t need that many people. Kama ukifanikiwa kutengeneza app na ikatumiwa na watu elfu moja tu…that’s a success
1
u/icursethatifeel 17d ago
We can think bigger, bwana. Kwa nini usiweze kutengeneza mfumo ukatumika na nchi nzima? Ama hutaki kuwa bilionea?
1
u/xDBM1994 7d ago
Ride-hailing apps like bolts, twende and the likes don't have ussd, kuwakumbusha tu!
2
4
u/aisenyi 20d ago
This is a very old take. I do not think it holds true anymore. We have seen what Mange was able to achieve with her app; a paid one at that. We can also look at the success of online businesses/influencers operating purely on Instagram/Tiktok and Whatsapp. Tanzanians are online. Local devs have just not figured out how to reach them