The Challenge

In low-income countries, self-employment and microentrepreneurship account for approximately 75 percent of all employment—and 82 percent for women.¹ However, subsistence entrepreneurship can be difficult, especially as enterprise owners operate under significant constraints, including limited financial literacy and a lack of capital. Digital credit has emerged as a potential solution in African countries like Tanzania, offering faster and more accessible loans through mobile network operators. However, despite these advances, usage remains low, particularly among women entrepreneurs. Even when they are aware of digital credit, financial literacy is limited: research from Malawi found that over two-thirds of eligible customers do not understand key loan terms like origination fees, repayment timelines, or late fees.² This knowledge gap can lead to borrowing decisions that increase financial stress or default risk.

Voice-based digital learning platforms and AI-powered assistance tools offer a promising opportunity to address these dual challenges facing women entrepreneurs in Tanzania by providing accessible, on-demand financial education and real-time business guidance. For instance, by using spoken language interfaces in local languages, these technologies can deliver clear guidance on loan terms, responsible borrowing, and business management strategies. However, a clear question remains: Can this translate to actual gains in financial literacy and help entrepreneurs make decisions that can improve their businesses?

The Evaluation

In partnership with IPA Tanzania and Viamo, researchers are conducting a randomized pilot evaluation to measure whether a voice-based digital training program and a generative AI voice chatbot can empower entrepreneurs to access digital credit and leverage it to grow their enterprises.

The study involves 1,200 micro, small, and medium enterprise owners from across Tanzania. The enterprise owners have been randomly assigned to the following groups:

• Comparison: No intervention.
• Digital learning modules only: Enterprise owners receive five dynamic, interactive voice response (IVR) lessons in Kiswahili introducing the basics of financial credit, key loan terms, responsible borrowing practices, and how to use mobile phones for business. Lessons feature dramatized narratives with a female protagonist facing real-life decision-making scenarios. Owners can revisit lessons at any time.
• Voice-based generative AI access only: Enterprise owners receive modules introducing Viamo's AVA (Ask Viamo Anything) product—a voice chatbot that provides real-time, conversational access to information on topics including financial capital, loan utilization, and business management in Kiswahili. Owners receive six months of access to ask questions and receive almost-immediate voice answers, designed for use on basic or smartphones.
• Combined support: Enterprise owners receive both the digital learning modules on financial credit and mobile-for-business plus the AVA generative AI chatbot with six months of access.

Researchers will measure the intervention’s impacts on entrepreneurs’ financial literacy, credit interest and usage, perceptions of mobile technology for business, and entrepreneurial aptitude (interest in business growth, resilience, confidence in managing risk, and ability to learn new strategies).

Results

Results will be available in 2027.

Sources

^1. International Labor Organization, “Small businesses and self-employed provide most jobs worldwide and in Asia,” International Labor Organization, October 11, 2019, https://www.ilo.org/resource/news/small-businesses-and-self-employed-provide-most-jobs-worldwide-and-asia

^2. Brailovskaya, Valentina, Pascaline Dupas, and Jonathan Robinson. "Is digital credit filling a hole or digging a hole? Evidence from Malawi." The Economic Journal 134, no. 658 (2024): 457-484.

Implementing Partner