Like many other Southern African Development Community countries, and east Africa and west Africa communities, Tanzania hopes the process, which will take six months to complete, will give impetus to fighting crimes committed using mobile phones. The theory is that if a call is linked to a crime, the police can find out who bought the SIM card and make an immediate arrest.

The Botswana Telecommunication Authority (BTA) started the registration last year, while the Nigerian Communication Commission and the Communication Commission of Kenya are also introducing regulations that give powers to the police to intercept calls anytime.

The Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication Related Information Act (RICA) came into force in South Africa this month, and anyone who buys an SIM card without registering risks being arrested by police.

The African region is experiencing phenomenal growth in the use of mobile phones compared to other regions of the world, so more phones are being stolen every day and criminals are also using phones to commit crimes.

In Nigeria and Somalia, for example, criminals are using mobile phones in ship hijackings, the abductions of foreign oil workers and to demand ransoms.