Tanzania’s Business Registration and Licencing Agency (BRELA) plans to review the Company Act, 2002, with the aim of creating a more investment-friendly environment. The review, announced in the National Assembly, will focus on removing sections of the law that hinder investment growth. This initiative is part of wider government reforms to improve the ease of doing business across the country. BRELA CEO Godfrey Nyaisa said the agency will work with the parliamentary committee (on industries, trade, agriculture, livestock, and fisheries) to identify and repeal these restrictive sections. He also highlighted BRELA’s online business registration system, launched in 2018. Both the committee chairman and the deputy minister for industry and trade emphasized the importance of attracting domestic and foreign investment through a conducive business climate.
MipangoApp, an AI-powered personal finance platform, won the third edition of the Japan International Cooperation Agency's (JICA) NINJA competition. The award recognizes Africa’s best female-led startups. It will provide MipangoApp with technical and funding assistance from JICA to scale up their app by empowering more women and youth with financial literacy and access. The win comes after two months of intensive capacity building from Deloitte Tanzania, where MipangoApp honed their business model, strategy, and operations. With JICA's support and network, MipangoApp is set to expand its reach and positively impact the financial lives of its customers and broader society.
Zanzibar's Ministry of Health launched "Pata Dawa” in collaboration with Tigo Zantel and Laina Finance. The digital financial service (DFS) allows individuals to obtain medicine on credit through their Tigo Pesa mobile wallets, repayable within ten days. The Deputy Minister of Health praised the initiative, designed to ease access to medication within Zanzibar's healthcare system, which provides free treatment but requires patients to purchase their own medicine. Tigo Pesa Chief Officer, Angelica Pesha, highlighted this as the first Halal DFS in East Africa.
Defender Technologies, the parent company of school management provider ShuleYetu Ltd., entered into a partnership with Bahwan CyberTek, an India-based digital transformation studio. This collaboration aims to launch wearable devices for schoolchildren by late June. It intends to empower parents with tools to monitor and track their kids' safety and well-being.
The Vodacom Tanzania Foundation held its first Future Ready Summit (FRS) from February 15 to 16 in Dar es Salaam. Over 1,500 attendees, including government officials, industry leaders, and tech enthusiasts, participated in discussions, workshops, and exhibitions. The summit focused on four key themes: promoting a digital society, equipping youth and communities with digital skills, driving innovation, and nurturing female participation in tech. Keynotes and panel discussions addressed topics like policy and regulation, startup support, and the future of work. FRS 2024 also included a Code Like A Girl hackathon and a Vodacom Digital Accelerator (VDA) design sprint.
On February 16th, AngloGold Ashanti’s Geita Gold Mine (GGM) unveiled its 2024–2025 Internship Program. It welcomed 40 interns to gain practical experience in various areas of the mining business. This year-long program aims to enhance the employability of Tanzanian graduates by providing them with crucial industry skills. As one of the country’s biggest employers, GGM sees this investment in young talent as crucial for supporting the development of Tanzania's mining sector, which is set to contribute 10% of Tanzania’s GDP by 2025. This initiative aligns with calls from the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) for more structured skills development programs to equip graduates with the skills needed for our local job market. To that purpose, Smart Africa Group (SAG) also recently introduced its graduate trainee programme. Tigo Tanzania has been operating its Graduate Development Program since 2020.