Pay Like a Local: AzamPesa, Visa to rewire Tanzania’s tourism economy
The new digital payments solution launched in Arusha effectively inserts tourists into Tanzania’s existing mobile money ecosystem.
SUNDAY February 15, 2026
By Adam Ihucha
The Tranquillity News Correspondent, Tanzania
In Tanzania, where wildlife safaris and beach escapes draw more than a million visitors annually, the biggest friction in the travel experience is often mundane: How to pay.
Outside major hotels and a handful of urban outlets, card terminals are scarce.
Fewer than 3 per cent of local shops are equipped with point-of-sale machines, leaving most transactions to be settled in cash or through mobile money.
That structural mismatch — between international cardholders and a domestic mobile-first economy — is precisely the gap that AzamPesa and Visa aim to close with Pay Like a Local, a new digital payments solution launched in Arusha – the Tanzania’s tourism gateway.
The payment problem tourists rarely anticipate
Tanzania is a paradox in financial services. On one hand, it is one of Africa’s most advanced mobile money markets, with widespread QR payments and peer-to-peer transfers embedded in everyday commerce.
On the other hand, it remains a predominantly cash economy for visitors, who often withdraw large sums on arrival or rely on hotels to mediate transactions.
This dual system imposes costs. Tourists face ATM queues, withdrawal limits and foreign transaction fees.
Merchants — particularly informal traders, taxi drivers and market vendors — are excluded from direct access to international spending because they lack card infrastructure.
Pay Like a Local effectively inserts tourists into Tanzania’s existing mobile money ecosystem rather than attempting to retrofit the economy with card terminals.
How it works
Visitors download the AzamPesa App, register online in under five minutes, and transfer funds from their Visa card into a local mobile wallet.
This solution is emblematic of Africa’s payments future — locally relevant, globally connected, and built through public-private collaboration”, Victor Makere, Visa’s Country Manager for Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda.
Once funded, they can transact just like residents — paying via QR codes, wallet transfers or merchant prompts.
At the heart of the system is Visa’s global payment infrastructure, which securely enables international cardholders to fund AzamPesa wallets.
Transactions are processed through Cybersource, Visa’s global payments platform, with tokenisation, authentication, and built-in fraud management meeting international security standards.
For users, the appeal is twofold: Lower transaction fees compared with repeated ATM withdrawals, and reduced exposure to card fraud or theft.
For merchants, the model eliminates the need for investing in expensive devises used for processing transactions, manage inventory, and handle payments in retail and hospitality (POS hardware), while unlocking access to foreign spending power.
A structural shift, not a cosmetic upgrade
The innovation lies less in new technology than in network integration. Instead of building a parallel tourist payments rail, the partnership leverages Tanzania’s existing mobile money dominance and overlays global card connectivity.
This architecture reflects a broader trend across African fintech: Interoperability as a growth strategy.
AzamPesa previously participated in Cohort 2 of the Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator – a programme designed to connect emerging African fintechs to Visa’s global network, technical expertise and capital pathways.
Pay Like a Local is a tangible output of that scaling strategy. The economic implications are significant. Tourism is one of Tanzania’s leading foreign exchange earners. By embedding visitors directly into the mobile money ecosystem, more transactions are likely to be digitised and formally recorded, expanding transparency and potentially broadening the tax base.
Moreover, informal merchants — from roadside fruit sellers to bodaboda riders — gain frictionless access to international consumer spending without changing their business model.
Extending immediacy to payments removes one of the last barriers between global visitors and local commerce,” Firas Ahmad, Group CEO of AzamPesa.
Inclusion meets infrastructure
Firas Ahmad, Group CEO of AzamPesa, frames the initiative as an inclusion play.
Tourists already gain instant connectivity through local SIM cards or roaming agreements. Extending that immediacy to payments, he argues, removes one of the last barriers between global visitors and local commerce.
Chad Pollock, Vice President and General Manager for East Africa at Visa, positions the partnership as a template for the continent: global networks connecting seamlessly to local systems rather than displacing them.
Government officials have also endorsed the initiative. Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Hamad Hassan Chande described the rollout as timely, particularly as Tanzania’s tourism numbers continue to climb.
The logic is straightforward: Frictionless payments improve visitor experience, and smoother visitor experiences drive repeat travel and higher per-capita spending.
Victor Makere, Visa’s Country Manager for Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda, framed the solution as “emblematic of Africa’s payments future — locally relevant, globally connected, and built through public-private collaboration”.
The broader African context
Across sub-Saharan Africa, mobile money has leapfrogged traditional banking infrastructure. Yet cross-border and cross-currency integration remains a weak link.
Tourists frequently confront payment fragmentation when moving between formal hospitality operators and informal service providers.
If scalable, the AzamPesa–Visa model could be replicated in other mobile-dominant markets where card penetration remains thin.
By allowing international cards to fund local wallets instantly, global payment networks become enablers of domestic digital ecosystems rather than competitors.
The rollout of the AzamaPesa – Pay Like a Local solution is timely, as Tanzania’s tourism numbers continue climbing,” Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Hamad Hassan Chande.
Risks and realities
Challenges remain. Adoption will depend on awareness among tourists, ease of onboarding and regulatory alignment around cross-border fund flows.
Currency volatility and foreign exchange controls could also influence transaction costs over time.
Still, the strategic direction is clear. Instead of compelling African merchants to adopt Western card infrastructure, this model invites global travellers into Africa’s mobile- first financial architecture.
In economic terms, Pay Like a Local is more than a travel convenience. It represents a convergence of fintech innovation, tourism strategy, and financial inclusion — a reminder that in emerging markets, the most effective solutions are often those that adapt global systems to local realities.
For visitors to Tanzania, the appeal is simple: Less time searching for ATMs, more time on safari.
For the economy, the stakes are larger — digitised flows, expanded access, and a deeper integration between global capital and everyday commerceΩ
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Adam Ihucha is a prominent Tanzanian journalist and author recognized for his extensive coverage of tourism, wildlife conservation, and economic issues in East Africa. Based in Arusha, he serves as a senior correspondent for The Tranquility News and is a long-time contributor to eTurboNews (eTN), where he provides global insights into Tanzania's travel industry.
Throughout his career, Ihucha has written for several major publications, including The Guardian (Tanzania) and The EastAfrican. His work frequently highlights the intersection of environmental conservation and economic development, covering critical topics such as anti-poaching initiatives, national park management, and regional trade within the East African Community. His journalism is noted for its advocacy for sustainable tourism and its role in documenting the achievements of Tanzania's tourism sector.
Email contact: ihucha@tranquilitynews.com
