Government, NMB in new digital economy promotion drive

Dar es Salaam. The government, through the ministry of Information, Communication and Information Technology, has signed a partnership deal with NMB Bank that is geared towards promoting the digital economy.

The agreement, signed by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mohammed Khamis Abdulla and the NMB Bank CEO, Mr Ruth Zaipuna, enables the two institutions to jointly work on issues pertaining to the advancement of the digital economy in Tanzania.

The two partners will collaborate in designing digital systems, including Jamii Namba for citizens’ identification and the electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) protocol for customer verification, to simplify the provision of online services.

They will also work on Jamii Data Exchange, which is simply the National Enterprise Service Bus that will mainly network public and private sector institutions and help to create a one-stop centre for government online services.

NMB Bank and the ministry will also cooperate in supporting innovators and entrepreneurs, especially in the financial sector, through innovation hubs that will be established by the ministry.

Speaking during the event, the minister for Information, Communication and Information Technology, Mr Nape Nnauye, said the deal comes at a time when the digital transformation drive is already gaining momentum in the country.

Thus, he said, partnering with the private sector and other development partners was important if the ongoing transformation drive was to yield improvements in service delivery and enhance productive activities.

“This partnership agreement between NMB and the ministry is one of the steps in the implementation of the Ten-Year (2024-2034) Digital Economy Strategy,” Mr Nnauye noted, lauding the bank for its e-readiness.

NMB Bank’s chief executive officer, Ruth Zaipuna, said the MoU accords the bank the opportunity to increase its active role in the networked economy and constructively contribute to national efforts to build a prosperous digital future.

"I strongly believe that this agreement will be the beginning of a historic journey in the growth and development of the digital economy in our country,” Ms Zaipuna stated.

She said NMB has sustainably invested heavily in advancing the new economy and continues to work very closely with the authorities to promote ICT development in the country.

The bank has also made huge investments to nurture digital talent and increase staff ICT expertise and professionalism, particularly in the areas of software development, solutions and enterprise architecture, cyber security, systems administration, and data science and analytics.

Mr Abdullah said already that NMB and the ministry have collaborated on many digital development initiatives.

Among them are preparation of the 10-Year Digital Economy Strategy, drafting of the new National ICT Policy and designing the electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) system.

"Preparations to draft the ICT Bill have started in earnest following the completion of crafting the National ICT Policy 2024, whose approval is in the final stages,” the ministry’s top technocrat noted.