10 Questions About Tanzania's Tech Progress in May 2024

A. What were some key highlights of Tanzania's innovation ecosystem in May 2024?

May was an eventful month for Silicon Bongo. It featured the following notable developments…

1. $200,000 Fundraising: MazaoHub, an agritech startup which develops farm management software for over 35,000 smallholders, secured TZS 519 million from Catalyst Fund.
2. Commercial E-Mobility: TRí partnered with Bolt and Watu Credit partnered to launch Tanzania's first electric vehicle option for ride-hailing and financing. This collaboration combines TRí's e-three-wheelers, Bolt's digital platform, and Watu’s green loans to promote sustainable urban transportation.
3. ClimAccelerator Tanzania Demo Day: Sahara Ventures hosted this event on May 15th, showcasing 10 startups focused on clean cooking, digital agriculture, animal feed, and sustainable land/water use. Each winner received over TZS 19.7 million.
4. Innovation Week Tanzania (IWTz) 2024: The 10th annual IWTz took place from May 21-24, focusing on driving economic competitiveness through innovation across various sectors.
5. Sarufi Gathering: The 8th Generative Artificial Intelligence Community Meetup was held on May 25th, discussing AI model deployment for real-world applications.
6. Education, Skills, and Innovation Week: This national event in Tanga (May 25-31) featured edtech demonstrations and research presentations from universities and startups.
7. YALI Recognition: SmartDarasa, an ineractive learning platform, won two awards at a Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) program in Kenya. It showcased Tanzania's increasing strength in educational technology. The startup’s innovative use of 3D/2D simulations and augmented reality is transforming how students learn.

B. How is Tanzania's agritech sector developing?

Tanzania's agritech sector also showed progress.

1. Tukutech demonstrated drone technology for pesticide and fertilizer spraying on avocado farms in Njombe region.
2. The NM-AIST (in Arusha) and University of Florida received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to improve livestock farming using advanced tools like the SmaXtec bolus and Ceres tag.
3. Several agritech startups, including Africa Harvest and Lima Africa, were among the winners at the ClimAccelerator Tanzania Demo Day.

C. How is Tanzania's fintech space growing?

Our financial technology industry saw notable advancements:

1. PesaTech accelerator revealed its second cohort of 10 Tanzanian fintech startups.
2. Settlo partnered with Vodacom Tanzania to offer free internet access to its SME customers.
3. Beem (social commerce) and Sarafu (B2B e-commerce) were selected to participate in Visa's Africa Fintech Accelerator program.

D. How is Tanzania promoting international investment and collaboration?

The government and startups are actively seeking foreign partnerships. Below is a quick breakdown.

1. The Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) led a delegation to Japan from May 26th to June 7th to attract investment in key sectors.
2. A group of Tanzanian startup leaders visited South Korea's Pangyo Technovalley to explore collaboration opportunities.
3. DeveloPPP Ventures, funded by the German government, opened applications for Tanzanian startups to obtain up to 100,000 euros and scale their ventures.

E. What progress was made in Tanzania's transportation and logistics sector?

Major improvements occurred in transportation:

1. The government announced plans to launch passenger and cargo train services on the standard gauge railway (SGR) between Dar es Salaam and Morogoro in June, with full service to Dodoma expected by July 25th.
2. Watu Credit introduced a green lending initiative for the purchase of eco-friendly three-wheeled vehicles (i.e., bajajis).

F. How are Tanzanian universities contributing to innovation?

Universities played a crucial role in translating research into potential consumer products.

1. MUHAS (Tanzania’s #1 university) held a webinar on AI in digital health products and announced its 4th Digital Health & Innovation Week for November 2024.
2. NM-AIST, in collaboration with the University of Florida, received a grant to improve livestock farming using advanced technologies.

G. What community-building events took place in the ecosystem?

Several events promoted community growth…

1. The 8th Gen AI Meetup in Dar es Salaam brought together AI enthusiasts, developers, and professionals.
2. Founders Tanzania (FTz) hosted its second quarterly meetup of 2024, focusing on collaboration in building successful companies.

H. How are Tanzanian startups utilizing AI?

Machine intelligence applications are diverse.

• In agriculture: MazaoHub uses AI for insights on soil health, crop selection, and weather patterns
• In customer service: Neurotech is developing Swahili language models for chatbots
• In education: SmartDarasa employs AI for interactive 3D and 2D simulations.

I. What support is available for early-stage startups in Tanzania?

Young tech companies benefit from:

• Business nurseries like Stanbic Bank’s Biashara Incubator.
• Funding opportunities such as DeveloPPP Ventures, offering up to 100,000 euros to qualifying startups like Dawa Mkononi.
• Community initiatives like Founders Tanzania, which has grown to over 280 members.

J. How is the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) impacting Tanzania's startup ecosystem?

The newly launched SGR passenger and cargo services are creating opportunities for ventures in:

• Supply chain management, cold storage, and last-mile delivery to leverage the SGR's efficiency and reduced costs to improve their services.
• E-commerce and agritech, particularly for streamlining agricultural product distribution.
• Travel and tourism, with increased demand for booking services and location-based technologies.

These updates reflect the continued expansion and diversification of Tanzania's tech ecosystem across various sectors in May 2024.