How El-dizer's CEO Turned Student Loans into a Viable Fintech Business in Tanzania

This is a condensed version of our wide-ranging interview with Elibariki Laizer. It only focuses on illustrating how some Tanzanian startups go-to-market.

The complete conversation is available in Atoms & Bits Magazine (see download link in the comments).

Introduction

“Every great business is built around a secret that is hidden from the outside,” argues Peter Thiel. Why? He’s no stranger to unpopular truths.

Among other things, Peter:

• Was PayPal’s first CEO in 1999
• Paid $500,000 for a 10% stake in Facebook just six months after the site went live

So he often asks, “What valuable company is nobody building? Every correct answer is necessarily a secret: something important and unknown, something hard to do but doable.”

“If there are many secrets left in the world," Peter concludes, “then there are probably many world-changing companies yet to be started."

When Elibariki started lending to fellow students at St. John's University of Tanzania (SJUT) in 2020, he uncovered one Thiel secret: Tanzania’s university students represent an overlooked financial market worth hundreds of billions of shillings.

Many people think, “‘These are just students, they do not have money.’ That is a mistake,”’ Laizer explains. And numbers back his insight.

Tanzania has nearly 335,000 university students across 49 institutions.

Like many start-up ideas, this one emerged from personal experience. During his first year at St John's, Laizer watched himself and fellow classmates struggle between government loan disbursements. Some skipped meals. Others risked dropping out.

He saw a gap to fill.

Testing the Market

In April 2020, Elibariki began with a simple approach: “I made my own simple contract, I started lending in my class.”

Using Form Four certificates as collateral, he grew from 59 customers in the first semester to 112 by year-end, even as COVID-19 disrupted university schedules.

By 2021, with data from over 170 borrowers proving his concept, Laizer registered El-dizer with BRELA and TRA. But manual operations limited growth.

“It took seven to ten hours to attend all interested students who gathered in a classroom,” he recalls.

From One Campus to Many

The classroom-by-classroom model worked at SJUT, but expansion required new approaches.

So, Laizer implemented an agent system, offering 5% commission on successful loans. This helped El-dizer spread across more courses while maintaining the personal touch needed for lending.

Late 2021 marked his first major expansion test. After introducing “Pay Later” for device financing, Elibariki bought a car to travel between St. John’s and the University of Dodoma (UDOM).

“The UDOM market opened up tremendously,” he notes.

As of January 2025, the startup operates in four other campuses:

• College of Business Education (CBE), Dodoma
• Institute of Rural Development Planning (IRDP, aka Mipango)
• Maweni Clinical College, Kigoma
• Mbeya University of Science and Technology (MUST)
• Water Institute, Dar es Salaam

Tech for Scaling Up

By December 2023, mounting operational pressures pushed El-dizer’s biggest shift.

Laizer launched the Chuo Credit app, allowing undergrads in six universities to connect with agents on-demand.

“It helped my expansion become quick. My turnover does not even stay two weeks before it is finished,” he explains.

A crucial partnership with NMB Bank in February 2023 followed, enabling automatic loan deductions from government stipends.

“Now, students sign one contract that lasts three to four years. New customers sign an agreement with NMB, and after that, there is no more paperwork.”

The bank’s trust came from El-dizer’s proven zero default rate.

The startup’s current product suite reflects deeper insights into student financial needs.

1. Uni-Loan: Emergency credit for tuition and living expenses
2. Pay Later: Smartphones and laptops for writing assignments, personal studying, and exam preparation
3. Intern-Loan: Mainly for medical students during their practical (sixth) year

By September 2024, El-dizer had disbursed over 180 million Tanzanian shillings to more than 1,200 students.

Since our initial interview with Elibariki on September 20, 2024, El-dizer has continued its progress, reaching TZS 237 million disbursed to 1,472 students as of January 5, 2025.

But Elibariki sees this as just the beginning.

“My data shows many students cannot manage money. They lack financial education,” he explains. This insight has shaped El-dizer's evolution beyond lending.

It is exploring ways to help HESLB improve fund management, including a possible campus-specific digital currency for food and necessities.

New Habits

El-dizer’s upcoming product, “Kijumbe Mchezo,” shows its evolution toward broader financial infrastructure.

This digital platform for informal savings groups aims to connect savers across regions.

“Someone in Mbeya could be in a group with someone in Mwanza,” Laizer says, highlighting his vision for promoting a savings culture even among complete strangers.

Lessons for Tanzania's Fintech Ecosystem

UNCDF’s EU-funded PesaTech Accelerator helped Laizer formalize El-dizer's operations, moving from a home office to a proper team structure.

But he emphasizes that success came from understanding fundamental market dynamics.

"Do not underestimate small things,” he advises aspiring entrepreneurs.

His experience also highlights gaps in Tanzania’s startup support system.

“The government should quickly allow new startups like ours that serve overlooked segments,” he urges public servants. “Do not create unnecessary obstacles.”

The Ultimate Goal

Laizer told us he wants to build Tanzania’s first youth-focused bank.

His vision extends beyond lending to creating a complete financial ecosystem for young Tanzanians.

"I am very data-driven,” he says, “and that is how we have been creating our products.”

The student lending data revealed patterns that could help shape banking products for different life stages of Tanzanians. From university through early career.

The youth bank model would start with existing university customers, following them as they graduate into professional life.

Their student repayment history creates credit profiles otherwise unavailable to fresh graduates.

The fintech’s unique data pipeline allows it to design appropriate products as customers’ needs change, from student emergency loans to graduate business financing.

“These are tomorrow’s professionals,” Laizer emphasizes. “They need financial services designed for their needs today.”

His youth bank is expected to combine traditional banking services with financial education and controlled spending tools, building on El-dizer’s experience with student fund management.