The financial and operational realities for African businesses are evolving rapidly. In 2025, digital transformation, regional integration, and scalable payment systems are no longer buzzwords; they’re business imperatives.

One of the most pivotal developments in East Africa’s financial infrastructure is the Tanzania Instant Payment System (TIPS). Developed and launched by the Bank of Tanzania, TIPS facilitates real-time, low-cost, and interoperable transactions between banks, mobile money platforms, and digital financial service providers (DFSPs).

As a regional business enabler, OfficePhase is advising its clients, ranging from SMEs and international startups to NGOs and multinationals, on how to strategically leverage TIPS. Below is a breakdown of how this infrastructure upgrade impacts your operations, regional growth plans, and long-term financial planning.

1. Reduced Payment Friction = Increased Profit Margins

The Challenge: Traditional cross-border transfers are expensive and slow. Businesses face FX losses, bank fees, and liquidity delays.

The TIPS Advantage: By enabling instant, direct transfers across bank and mobile money ecosystems, TIPS drastically reduces transactional costs and time. Local currency settlements through PAPSS and EAPS integration mean you’re not forced to convert into USD, minimizing FX exposure.

Business Insight:
If your company frequently pays cross-border suppliers, contractors, or freelancers, cost savings of 20–40% per transaction translate to annual margin improvement, especially for high-volume SMEs.

2. Optimized Cash Flow Management

The Challenge: Delays in settlements affect working capital, inventory cycles, payroll timing, and investment agility, particularly for SMEs and early-stage businesses.

The TIPS Advantage: Real-time settlement enables businesses to:

• Pay only when needed, improving liquidity
• Access funds instantly from clients or partners
• Avoid pre-funding multiple accounts in different countries

Business Insight:
Fast-moving businesses, especially in logistics, retail, tech, and consulting, require quick access to capital. With TIPS, cash flow becomes predictable and responsive, making scaling and reinvestment easier.

3. Regional Expansion Made Easier

The Challenge: Entering multiple African markets typically requires opening foreign accounts, dealing with cross-border compliance, and setting up physical presence.

The TIPS Advantage:
TIPS especially as it aligns with AfCFTA and PAPSS lets businesses transact with partners across the continent in their local currencies, streamlining operations.

Business Insight:
You can operate across East Africa and beyond without setting up expensive local banking infrastructure. With a strong digital payment foundation, your market entry is faster, less risky, and more cost-effective.

4. Increased Financial Inclusion = Broader Customer Base

The Challenge: Many clients, vendors, and employees across Africa remain unbanked or underbanked.

The TIPS Advantage:
TIPS connects banks and mobile money platforms like M-Pesa and Tigo Pesa, meaning payments can be sent or received from both formal and informal financial channels.

Business Insight:
You don’t need to limit your customer or supplier base to those with formal bank accounts. TIPS unlocks access to millions of potential consumers, suppliers, and partners previously excluded from traditional business ecosystems.

5. Digital Compliance and Reduced Risk

The Challenge: Cross-border compliance, KYC, and AML obligations can be complex, particularly for small teams and growing startups.

The TIPS Advantage:
As a centralized platform regulated by the Bank of Tanzania, TIPS enforces anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) standards, reducing business exposure to non-compliance risks.

Business Insight:
Using a government-regulated platform ensures that your transactions are auditable, and your books remain clean. This is especially crucial for grant-funded organizations, NGOs, and companies seeking investors or partners..

6. Improved Vendor and Partner Relationships

The Challenge: Late payments, settlement delays, and unexpected transaction fees often strain supplier and contractor relationships.

The TIPS Advantage:
Instant settlement through TIPS strengthens vendor confidence, accelerates service delivery, and builds trust in new markets.

Business Insight:
When partners know they’ll be paid instantly and in local currency, they’re more likely to offer favourable terms, discounts, and priority service, giving your business a competitive edge.

7. Strategic Alignment with Africa’s Digital Trade Goals

The Challenge: Many businesses still operate in silos, slow to adopt pan-African financial systems that match the ambitions of AfCFTA.

The TIPS Advantage:
TIPS is a key part of the infrastructure that will facilitate Africa’s move toward a single digital market by 2030. Early adopters will have more data, agility, and brand trust in regional partnerships.

Business Insight:
Aligning with such infrastructure now puts your company in the right place to access continental trade incentives, integrate with regional partners, and be future-ready.

OfficePhase Perspective: What We’re Doing

At OfficePhase, we recognize the potential of TIPS and other interoperable platforms in unlocking economic freedom and cross-border innovation for African businesses.

We are:

• Preparing to accept TIPS-based payments for our coworking and virtual office packages
• Advising our clients on fintech integrations and financial system restructuring
• Expanding partnerships with mobile money operators across Africa to boost ease of doing business

Final Word to Our Business Community

The future of business in Africa will be fast, digital, inclusive, and regional. With tools like TIPS, organizations of all sizes can streamline operations, improve financial agility, and scale with confidence.

Whether you’re a founder, CFO, operations lead, or expansion manager, now is the time to rethink your payments strategy.