Legal team size:   8 people

Major legal advisers/ external counsel (optional):  DLA Piper Africa Tanzania (IMMMA Advocates),Dentons East Africa Law Chambers, Lawhill- Collaborating with Andersen Global in Tanzania

 What are the most significant cases and transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

We have been involved and completed the acquisition of Smile Communication Tanzania Limited, a rival telecom operator, to support our company’s plans to launch competitive 4G and 5G network services in Tanzania.

Which recent political, economic, or regulatory changes have impacted your work the most in recent years? 

New data protection regulatory requirements brought by the recent Tanzania Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) have strengthened data protection requirements in other existing laws Tanzania. Since data security is a critical part of our business Vodacom Tanzania has been fully committed to safeguarding all customer information entrusted to us before the enactment of this new law and had established the Vodacom Privacy Management Programme which incorporates international accepted data protection principles emanated from General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The new requirements brought by the PDPA are echoed in this Programme and have set strong and firm foundations for its full implementation and its regulations in our company.

Right of Way charges are in relation to the right of passage of metro fiber cables on the road reserve. Previously the right of way was charged at $1000/KM under the old Regulations compared to $50 or less or free for utilities like gas, plumbing, water etc. the high costs posed a challenge for the telecommunication sector on the deployment of fiber services, critical for driving the digital economy in line with ambitions of the National Information Communication Technology Backbone (NICTBB) priorities. Following several engagements with key government stakeholders including our sector ministry (ICT), Ministry of Works and the Parliamentary Budget Committee, the charges were reduced to $100 per KM by the new Roads (Financing and Participation of Public Private Partnership) Regulations of 2023, allowing robust investment by the telco sector.

First introduced in 2021, the mobile money levies greatly impacted the use of mobile money services to drive the cashless economy agenda in Tanzania. The resulting rise in transaction costs negatively impacted mobile money values and volumes, subsequently affecting financial inclusion. Following continuous engagements by the telco sector with government stakeholders and interventions by industry bodies like GSMA, vividly painting the picture of the impact of the levies, the government made significant changes to the National Payment Systems (Electronic Money Transaction Levy) Regulations in 2022 including the complete removal of levies on the person to person (P2P) mobile money transfers. This step has contributed to the recovery of the sector and ultimately financial inclusion which is largely driven by mobile money.

Are there any causes, business or otherwise, that you are passionate about?

I am passionate about creating value to the business and society, team leadership and direction. To bring this passion to life, I lead with an intention to remove barriers, address business challenges and be seen as business enablers and partners rather than showstoppers. This is by understanding the business and customer needs through internal and external collaboration, teamwork, better understanding of the company’s strategy, its execution, and its effective communication to my team for execution purposes. We have been constantly improving legal services and processes through innovation and digitization of contracts and digital automation of manual contract execution, record keeping and contract compliance all of which have increased efficiency and simplicity in supporting business teams.

I am also a champion of women empowerment and digital economy in our organization. As one of the Vodacom Digital Accelerators Programme mentors I offer strategic legal advice on corporate governance and regulatory compliance aiming at helping technology startups to understand and comply with legal and regulatory requirements. Further, as a secretary of the Vodacom Tanzania Women Network Forum Steering Committee I continue to contribute to value creation to the business through networking and sharing professional experience and expertise.