INTERVIEW: Tigo Tanzania CEO Simon Karikari (pictured) highlighted the need for cross-industry partnerships and help from regulators to expand coverage in rural parts of Africa, and ensure operators can supply affordable services.

Speaking to Mobile World Live at the GSMA Mobile 360 Series – Africa event, Karikari said the main challenge in rural coverage programmes was “bringing all parties together”, which he added had helped Tigo increase its own reach in Tanzania.

“Regulators are key,” he added. “They can help us with spectrum allocation; they can help us ensure every customer can roam on our networks; they can help us with infrastructure sharing. This means we can bring down the costs of deploying our network, which means we can be more affordable to the population, and more accessible to the population.”

Karikari noted within Tanzania operators, authorities and vendors had been very enthusiastic about bringing services to a wider population.

During the interview, the executive also discussed the company’s progress in introducing digital services, boosting financial inclusion and emphasised the need to tailor services to local needs at appropriate price-points.

To view the interview click here.