Inside Mawingu's Plan to Connect 50,000 Tanzanian Homes and Businesses by 2030

This is a preview of our December 20, 2024 interview. Read the full article in our new Linkedin newsletter, A&B Circuit.

When Farouk Ramji talks about Tanzania’s internet market, he doesn’t dwell on the 300,000 connected homes. Instead, the Nairobi-based Mawingu CEO focuses on the 13.7 million households without access.

“The opportunity size in Tanzania is actually bigger than Kenya,” says Ramji.

His company recently acquired Habari Node, an established Tanzanian internet service provider (ISP), after an 18-month process that concluded in November 2024.

Unlike most ISPs that compete for urban customers, Mawingu deliberately targets rural and peri-urban communities.

“We are quite targeted with our approach,” Farouk tells us. “Our objective is not to put internet in every home. We focus on households willing to spend 6-8% of their income on internet service.”

This precise market positioning drove Mawingu’s choice of Habari , which operates across seven regions including Arusha, Kilimanjaro, and Dodoma.

“We had to run quite a disciplined route,” says Ramji. “First, we looked at strategic synergies. Habari was offering rural and peri-urban broadband services with both fiber and wireless—exactly matching our strategy.”

The $15 million deal ($11M debt, $4M equity) reveals a careful expansion game plan:

• Keep the trusted local brand
• Retain all employees
• Maintain existing B2B relationships, and
• Layer wireless capabilities onto Habari’s fiber network.

Valuation Insights for Founders

For entrepreneurs eyeing potential acquisitions, Farouk emphasizes financials over flashy metrics.

He says...

Continue reading (472 words), right here on LinkedIn, via: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/mawingu-ceo-reveals-tanzania-market-entry-strategy-anbpost-at13e.