Tech Safari in Tanzania 🇹🇿

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Meet Tanzania.

The East African treasure that’s known worldwide for its natural attractions, but not so much for its buzzing tech ecosystem.

Tanzania borders Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and the DRC in East Africa, and sits on the Eastern coast of the continent.

It stretches along the Indian Ocean - making it the ideal country to soak in the sea.

And part of Tanzania is a little island next to the mainland called Zanzibar. They weren’t always the same country, though.

Becoming Tanzania

Up until 1964, Tanzania was made up of two independent different regions: Tanganyika (the mainland) and Zanzibar (the island).

In 1964, Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form the United Republic of Tanzania. And the fruits of this marriage, for the most part, have been beautiful.

Today, Tanzania is the largest country in East Africa by landmass, and has a population of about 63 million people, with more than 120 ethnic groups.

Their unifying factor?

Swahili: their official language.

Economic Outlook

Tanzania is among Africa's fastest-growing economies, averaging +5.5% GDP growth between 2012 and 2021.

And by 2028, the IMF projects Tanzania's economy to jump from $85.4 billion to $136 billion.

The foundation of Tanzania’s economy is trade services (wholesale and retail) and agriculture.

Currently, agriculture makes up about 25% of the country's GDP and 85% of exports.

Agriculture includes crops, livestock, forestry, and fisheries, with Tanzania being a major maize exporter to East African countries like Kenya.

Zanzibar stands out for its spices, and cloves make up over 90% of Tanzania's spice exports.

And if you happen to stop by, add a spice tour to your bucket list.

I have, and I’ll report back.

But Tanzania’s agricultural economy is making waves in the ocean, too.

Fishing is one of Tanzania’s biggest sectors, supporting around 4 million jobs—about 35% of rural employment.

Despite taking a hit during Covid, tourism is making a comeback.

In 2019, it was contributing 10.6% to GDP, but it dropped to 5.1% in 2020 and bounced back to 5.7% in 2021.

Tanzania’s attractions have captured the hearts of tourists from far and wide.

Mount Kilimanjaro, which is Africa’s highest mountain, pulls in about 50,000 climbers every year. It’s a tough climb, but the views from Africa's highest point make it worthwhile.

If you're a Safari lover, The Serengeti National Park will give you National Geographic action.

The park, full of all the safari animals you could think of, gets between 150,000- 200,000 visitors annually.

And while agriculture, fishing, trade, and tourism hold down Tanzania’s economy, a tech wave is sweeping through the country.

Tech in Tanzania is on the Rise

Turns out, Tanzania is determined to speak tech as fluently as it does Swahili. And the country is rising as a force in Africa’s tech industry.

And a few changes in the last twenty years are supporting this.

Since 2000, Tanzania has seen a steady rise in mobile phone users. And out of every 100 people in Tanzania today, about 86 have a mobile phone.

The latest report from Tanzania Communication Regulation Authority (TCRA) shows that the country is fast-tracking towards 100% cellular connections.

And where there are phones, the internet usually follows closely behind. Internet subscriptions reached 31,172,544 (roughly 50% of the population) in December 2022.

This has had a ripple effect on mobile money.

Tanzania’s mobile money market is red hot, and with Vodacom, Tigo, Airtel, and Halotel in the ring, it’s a spicy competition for market dominance.

As of March 2023, mobile money accounts stood at 44.3 million, with transaction volumes toppling USD 5.9 billion.

Although it’s growing, Tanzania’s internet penetration underscores other East African countries. And there’s more work to be done.

And the Tanzanian Government is rolling up its sleeves, launching multiple initiatives to push the tech sector forward.

One of the favorites: Silicon Zanzibar

Inside Silicon Zanzibar

Zanzibar has a population of about 1.8 million people.

And while it’s known for its beaches and spices, the island is starting to be known for tech.

Tanzania aims to make Zanzibar a tech hub in Africa. And just like a startup, they're actively launching initiatives to turn their vision into a reality.

At the center of it is Silicon Zanzibar: a joint effort between the Government and private sector to make the island a hot tech hub.

The gameplan? Luring companies and talent from Africa and beyond to make it Africa’s tech epicenter.

Here are a couple of reasons founders are being tempted to make the move:

A tax holiday with that beach holiday 🏖️

Tanzania is giving awesome perks to Tech companies that set up shop in Zanzibar, like not paying corporate income tax for ten whole years.

This tax holiday exists to attract more businesses to the Free Economic Zone policy in Zanzibar.

The free economic zone is a special area within Zanzibar where businesses operate without worrying about taxes and customs duties.

It’s a magnet for foreign investors and a party for economic growth. And startups are digging it.

Last year, Kenyan startup Wasoko (which raised a $125 million series B), moved part of its team to Zanzibar and has started building their Tech HQ on the island.

While they've not shut down their operations in Kenya, Zanzibar’s tax incentives played a big role in this move.

The startup policies there make it easy to get work and business visas, which makes it easier to attract talent.

And Wasoko seems to love the island life.

A Tech University 🎓

Three weeks ago, Tanzania announced a new tech university.

They’re bringing the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Madras) to Zanzibar - IIT Madras’ first-ever global campus.

Zanzibar’s plan is to bring tech talent from across the continent to the island and build up local talent within Zanzibar.

IIT Madras' new campus in Zanzibar is part of the island's master plan to build up Africa's tech talent pipeline.

And once you bring the talent, where are they going to stay?

Fumba Town 🏡

Located on the southwest coast of Zanzibar, Fumba town is described as the future of living on the island.

Imagine a modern, spacious, and safe cosmopolitan life on a tropical island. But with tech.

This is what Tanzania is aiming for with Fumba Town.

It's located just south of Zanzibar's International Airport, covering a massive 600,000 m2 area with a cool 1.5 km seafront.

They want to build around 3,000 residential units in three phases.

Part of what’s fueling Fumba Town’s makeover is Zanzibar's growing population, which holds a lot of potential in creating tech talent for the island.

And Wasoko is adding fuel to the fire.

The Wasoko Innovation hub

In September last year, Wasoko launched a tech hub in the heart of Fumba town.

And the Wasoko Innovation Hub wants to play a key role in Fumba Town's makeover.

With Zanzibar’s support, Wasoko Innovation Hub wants to build a hub for more than 500 tech engineers, product designers, product managers, and founders in Africa.

No Visa? No Problem.

Zanzibar provides work visas for relocating tech workers.

This will make it easier for startups that build in Zanzibar to attract and keep talent.

And speaking of startups, Tanzania has some action going on.

Tanzanian Startups to Watch

Behind the scenic views, tech startups are building innovative solutions across different sectors.

• NALA money is shaking up remittances.

• Ramani is giving financial services to companies in the consumer-packaged goods supply chain.

• Tembo is pioneering Banking as a Service.

• NovFeed is turning organic waste into renewable aquafeed protein.

• And Ennovate Ventures is building a tech hub to support early-stage startups.

And there’s a lot more.

Today, I touched down in Tanzania.

I’ll be hosting a meetup with our friends Gosbert from Startup Discovery School in Dar Es Salaam and Francis from Ennovate Ventures.

If you missed out on tickets shoot me an email and I’ll share details.

And depending on how much you want a part two, I might go deeper into the startups I meet and profile the people building in Tanzania.

So, please let me know on LinkedIn:

• What else do you want to learn about Tanzania and Zanzibar?

• Which companies and people do you think I should connect with?

• Plus, I’ve got 8 days in Zanzibar for a vacay 😎 What are your food/drink/activity recommendations?

Til next week!

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Catch you soon!

👋🏾 Caleb’s