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The purpose of this paper is to show that, while in many low income countries inefficient regulatory regimes have been blamed for impeding ICT market development, Tanzania constitutes a remarkable exception. This study aims to identify the organizational and contextual factors that have enabled the Tanzanian Communications Regulatory Agency (TCRA) to implement innovative regulations, including a fully converged licensing framework as the first country on the continent, and how subsequently these regulations have influenced market development.

The analysis is based on case study data gathered through 20 face‐to‐face interviews in 2006 as well as secondary data gathered from government documents, news reports and company web sites.

The research finds that the market developments and regulatory innovations were due in part to Tanzania's Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA)'s high level of autonomy, afforded by independent funding mechanisms and lack of capacity of the Ministry, which pressed the regulator to play a greater role in policy making than is found in other countries. Further, TCRA's significant internal focus on capacity building has also enabled strong regulatory governance.

The results provide further evidence of the role that institutional endowments and regulatory governance play in fostering policy reform.

The research examines regulatory innovations in a region typically associated with regulatory inefficiencies. It identifies institutional factors and subsequently shows how in a very low income country they may be conducive to effective regulatory governance and market development.

This paper aims to assess the legal and regulatory framework for mobile banking (M-banking) in Tanzania. The technological development in information and communication technologies has converted a mobile phone from a simple communication device to a very complex instrument that allows people to perform various digital transactions and extra operations such as web browsing and email reading. Such tremendous developments have brought in place the regime of M-banking. The birth of M-banking has brought legal and institutional challenges that were not anticipated before. It has complicated the traditional role of the telecommunication regulator and financial regulator in the business and caused legal gaps that need to be bridged.

To disclose the legal gaps and bridge them, the study used doctrinal legal method and comparative study to learn the experience of international legal instruments and policies and laws of other jurisdictions. This paper has evaluated the contribution of international legal instruments and legal frameworks of foreign jurisdictions such as Kenya and the Philippines.

It has been revealed that the prevailing laws regulating M-banking in Tanzania do not adequately address and bridge the existing legal gaps. There is a need to enact a specific law regulating M-banking and confer such powers to a specific institution to deal with regulatory issues.

This paper stresses the importance of enacting new laws that will offer room for financial inclusion in the digital economy and protect consumers against financial risk. It also intends to act as a catalyst and change agent in policy and legislative development in the M-banking industry. It would also bring special attention to addressing consumer rights, security and risky issues surrounding the M-banking industry. Although several other authors in Tanzania have written in this area, they have not clearly focused on disclosing the existing legal gaps resulting from the convergence of the financial and communication sectors. This paper is therefore trying to offer an extensive discussion on the legislative development in the M-banking industry in Tanzania.

The emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected organizations differently, leading to adopting alternative business operation models, including digital technologies. The rapid adoption of digital technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates how adaptive technologies intersect with human and social institutions in potentially risky or inequitable ways. However, the sustenance of the digital transformations (DTs) induced by the COVID-19 crisis is still unclear. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the sustenance of DTs accelerated by the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic response in the Tanzanian context amid the crisis.

The study used a qualitative approach that included a literature review and semi-structured interviews with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) personnel from selected public institutions in Tanzania. The interviews elicited interviewees’ perspectives on the following: the digital revolution that occurred during the COVID-19 outbreak; how it affects their work; and the country’s future digital landscape. Additionally, a literature analysis established and generalized the practices used by the governments during the COVID-19 crisis.

The results show that there is enormous, colossal press toward adopting digital solutions. The use of digital technologies, such as digital payments, e-commerce, telemedicine and online education, has attracted the attention of businesses and individuals in Tanzania. Consequently, the move has enabled the country to cope with the cascading impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and progressive economic recovery to achieve its development goals. Furthermore, the findings offer policy strategies for taking the induced DTs to the next level and sustaining it.

This study reports the lessons from the DTs induced by COVID-19 and their sustenance. It also contributes toward forward-thinking reforms and policy measures that could help Tanzania and the likes harness the DTs'’ potential in the wake of the pandemic.

Finance, General Business Management.

Postgraduate/MBA Second Year.

The university-owned Universal Computing Limited (UCL) was contemplating on the future of its internet services business. Internally, the internet services department had put up a proposal on how to revamp the business. Concurrently, UCL received a joint venture proposition from a foreign telecommunication entity with which it had some business relation. The proposal was for UCL to cede its internet services department and the associated licence to the venture while the partner will finance the venture. Professor Ben Msomi, the UCL’s Managing Director knew that he had to make one of the two proposals a good sell to the board of directors’ meeting in two-weeks’ time probably before suggesting UCL to exit the internet services business.

Overall, the case aims at gaining an understanding of the sources of value of business and valuation of business. Specifically students are expected to learn how to: evaluate of the effect of various courses of action on the value of a business; apply different valuation methods – balance sheet, discounted cash-flows and market multiples in different context; establish appropriate rate for capitalization in business valuation; and handle assumptions and risks in business valuation,

Overall, the case aims at gaining an understanding of the sources of value of business and valuation of business. Specifically students are expected to learn how to: evaluate of the effect of various courses of action on the value of a business; apply different valuation methods – balance sheet, discounted cash-flows and market multiples in different context; establish appropriate rate for capitalization in business valuation; and handle assumptions and risks in business valuation,

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance

The world is experiencing democratic backsliding such that the situation is down back to 1986. This has resulted in the global shrinking of civic space for civil society organizations (CSOs). NGOs engaging in advocacy activities are seen to be among the CSOs affected. Using four NGOs cases from Tanzania, the study contributes to the civic space debate by uncovering how advocacy NGOs become resilient.

The study is anchored in interpretivism and a cross-sectional case study design, following a qualitative approach path. Data were collected through interviews and a documentary review.

Results show that several strategies such as complying, building community back-up, collaboration, strategic litigation, using digital media and changing the scope are applied. However, strategies face obstacles including scope limitations, expected democratic roles, high cost, changes in the scope and being outsmarted by the government, and hence their effectiveness is questionable.

This study focused on advocacy NGOs. More studies can be conducted for other advocacy-related CSOs on how they become resilient.

While NGOs are allowed to exist in the country, their freedom continue to be curtailed. Even the effectiveness of resiliency becomes temporary and depends on the political will of the existing regime.

Tanzania NGOs have to build strong bonds with citizens, expand the scope of strategies and use deliberative democratic principles to educate the government to change laws and tolerate plural political culture. Also, NGOs in other countries with confined civic space can apply the same.

This paper aims to examine the legal challenges to electronic banking and initiatives taken to address them in Tanzania. It is based on the results of a comparative analysis of policies and laws of other countries from which Tanzania can pick a leaf on how to deal with challenges brought by information and communication technology-induced innovations in the banking sector.

The study upon which this paper is based employed comparative analysis methods by analysing different policies and laws of Tanzania in line with attendant laws of other jurisdictions such as the USA, Malaysia, South Africa, Rwanda and Kenya and international instruments in a bid to establish the best practice pertaining to controlling and containing legal challenges brought by developments in electronic banking.

This paper confirms that, the prevailing laws guiding electronic banking in Tanzania do not adequately address the challenges the banks and customers face during electronic banking transactions. Thus, there is a need to amend the Tanzanian laws guiding this sector to put in place legislation capable of facilitating the development of electronic banking whilst addressing the associated challenges the users encounter.

This paper underscores the value of amending existing or enacting new laws in line with the development of technology/innovation to protect consumers in nascent electronic banking of the country. Moreover, it advocates for the development of innovation in banking sector should not be left to grow without amending/enacting laws that will promote its development and at the same time protect the users to avoid far-reaching and often unpleasant implications.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of critical success factors (CSFs) on information technology (IT) governance performance in public sector organizations in a developing country such as Tanzania.

Based on a previous study and a further literature review, a research model was developed for analysing the relationship between the CSFs found for effective IT governance in this environment and their effect on IT governance performance. A survey research method was applied for data collection and sample data from Tanzanian public sector organizations (this environment) obtained. Subsequently, a second‐generation structural equation modelling technique, namely partial least squares, was applied to test statistically the correlated effect.

The results indicate significant small to strong positive correlated effects on IT governance performance. The CSF with the most significant correlated effect was “involve and get support of senior management” and the one with the least “consolidate, standardize and manage IT infrastructure and application to optimize costs and information flow across the organization”. Finally, a CSF model for effective IT governance in this environment was proposed.

The findings imply that decision makers can optimize IT‐related plans and use of scarce resources by concentrating on the CSFs that have a significant effect on IT governance performance that could lead to an improvement of public service delivery. This study is limited to a single developing country but future studies can involve more such countries to broaden the insights into the effect of CSFs on IT governance performance in such environments.

By establishing the correlated effects between these CSFs and the IT governance performance, this study has revealed a significant impact of CSFs on IT governance performance. It also suggests a CSFs model for effective IT governance in this less‐resourced environment in which such studies have not been conducted before, yet which are vital for analysing and improving IT governance.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the institutional challenges of coordinating regulatory agencies and the costs associated with compliance requirements in Tanzania’s tourist industry.

This paper is based on qualitative research conducted in the northern tourism circuit of Tanzania. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with owner-managers of tourism enterprises, heads of regulatory agencies and leaders of business associations (n=60). The findings were analysed through triangulating the data from various sources to establish emerging themes and patterns in accordance with the theoretical underpinnings and research objectives.

The findings show that tourism enterprises are governed by a multitude of national, sub-national and sectoral institutions mandated to impose several taxes, fees and levies on enterprises. As a result, tourism enterprises are required to obtain duplicate licences and are subjected to uncoordinated inspections. The poor treatment by regulatory agencies, the unclear basis for estimating taxes and levies, inadequate tax education and closure of businesses were also reported as key regulatory challenges. Most challenges emerge from agentification of the public sector and the lack of a legal framework in which to formally facilitate coordination and information sharing amongst government agencies.

The paper proposes streamlining the functions of divergent institutions governing the industry by increasing intergovernmental coordination through delegating some functions, sharing information and enforcing formal inter-ministerial and cross-government consultation structures.

This paper adds value to previous regulatory assessments by empirically analysing the specific sector and showing how the principal–agent relationship for the public sector can be improved through enforcing coordination of the multiple agencies governing the tourist industry.

This study aims to determine information needs and sources of the rural farmers in Tanzania specifically from Iringa rural district.

Survey technique was used as the principal data collection technique where 120 rural farmers were interviewed. In-depth interviews of ten key informants from two villages of Ifunda and Kalenga complemented the survey.

70 per cent of farmers' information needs is about crop and livestock husbandry, marketing, funding options and value addition. However, there is a significant difference between the two wards in information needs for “information on crop and livestock husbandry” as well as information on “value addition”. To a great extent, farmers use the old means of communication, the traditional and interpersonal by default due to relevancy in the context and content. The modern means of communication are used to access non-agricultural (other) information.

Designing effective extension and dissemination programs should consider the needs and mechanisms desired and preferred by specific group of farmers.

There is heterogeneity within farming communities in terms of information needs which requires a consideration by intervention programs.

The study identifies information needs and sources of rural farmers. It points out that needs of the farmers are not static and they change over time. Though farmers largely use old means, the modern communications means have the potential of being better sources should the information producers upload relevant and context-specific information.