Safari Wallet is employing financial technology to boost the tourism sector, marking Day 9 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs Tanzania initiative

Tourism is one of the biggest revenue earners for the East African region. According to data from the East African Community (EAC) secretariat, the sector contributes an average of about 17 per cent to export earnings and its contribution to GDP is quite substantial averaging at around 10 per cent. It generates up to 10 per cent of employment in the region. But the majority of these Tourists are international, with few locals contributing to these figures.

Nonetheless, governments and private companies are deliberately encouraging more locals across East Africa to tour and experience their region.

Among private sector players that are contributing to East Africa’s local Tourism is Safari Wallet; a Dar es Salaam based company that is using FinTech to enable potential travellers to save funds, identify, book and go on their preferred trips.

Safari Wallet is a Travel FinTech marketplace that offers freedom of travel to Africans by connecting intending travellers to tour operators across the continent. The platform gives interested travellers a chance to book a tourism experience of their choice, agree on a payment plan and pay digitally.

“We work closely with small and medium tour operators who are operating with the Africa destinations. These operators host a multiple number of tourism experiences on our platform and give an opportunity to the locals who want to travel to plan their trip before they travel and pay flexibly,” Eid (Iddy) John, the Co-Founder and CEO of Safari Wallet said.

He added: “One can book or design any trip and then pay slowly, manageably using an instalment model which can be a weekly or monthly plan or choose a single one-off payment. The goal is to make it easy for anyone to afford to travel. Rather than paying everything at once, you can just take your time, save now and travel later.”

Once a trip is booked using Safari Wallet, there are no price fluctuations making the experience predictable and enjoyable for the tourists.

“By the time you lock up your trip, you have locked up every single detail of that deal including travel, accommodation, food and everything included in that trip. When you complete your payment, you just pack your bags and travel without any additional charges,” Iddy John said.

Safari Wallet has embedded digital payments that enable its over 100,000 customers to pay using either mobile money or bank cards.

“If you subscribe to an experience, you can choose between paying with mobile money or a bank card. If your payment plan is weekly, then every week a pop-up will appear on your phone informing you about your payment and pending deduction off your wallet. When you accept, then the payment is completed. Going forward, we are working on a system that enables our customers to deposit money directly onto their Safari Wallet in advance and we seamlessly collect it as per each customer’s trip payment schedule. Whether you are using bank or mobile money, we don’t complete any payment without notifying you,” Iddy John explained.

We interacted with Safari Wallet on Day 9 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for Tanzania. First implemented in Uganda, 40 Days 40 FinTechs is an annual FinTech Innovation initiative presented by HiPipo to recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations who are making significant strides in promoting financial inclusivity through the use of technology.

It is aimed at promoting innovation and collaboration among FinTechs in Africa. The initiative is designed to provide FinTechs and startups with mentorship, training, exposure, and networking opportunities to help them grow and scale their businesses.

According to Iddy John; “40 Days 40 FinTechs is giving us a chance to share our innovative solutions but also putting this information out for the government and other stakeholders to know how these industries are operating; the existing opportunities and challenges we face. It is a great initiative.”

40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative Tanzania is part of HiPipo’s broader Include EveryOne Program that is generously supported by the Gates Foundation and implemented in partnership with Level One Project, ICTC Tanzania, Ideation Corner, Cyber PLC Academy, INFITX, NG Films, Founders Academy and Mojaloop Foundation.

The Include EveryOne program is a beacon of acceleration of FinTech Innovation, empowerment for Women in FinTech and a catalyst for investment and development in the ICT sector. Minus 40 Days 40 FinTechs, other initiatives under the Include EveryOne Program are the FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit and Incubator, Digital Impact Awards Africa and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit.

HiPipo is recognized as a premier advocate of digital Innovation and financial inclusion champion, a fervent proponent of the #LevelOneProject. HiPipo has been at the forefront, actively promoting digital innovation, Instant, Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), and DFS across Africa. With a legacy of advising, mobilizing, and facilitating the adoption of inclusive financial services, HiPipo’s efforts have been nothing short of transformative! For almost two decades, HiPipo has successfully facilitated the inclusive adoption of these crucial services.