Edwin Bruno on unlocking infinite opportunities in tech

Dar es Salaam. What started as a far-off dream for a second-year computer science engineering student at the St. Joseph’s College of Engineering in Kibaha, Dar es Salaam, became the perfect opportunity for his strategic self-positioning for what would later become an empire worth billions of shillings

Mr Edwin Bruno is the founder and CEO of Smart Africa Group (SAG), a company with five subsidiaries that are fully tapped into the technology sector from a 360-degree perspective. Having gone through the paths, jumped the hurdles, and scaled the walls on his way to success, Bruno also made it his life’s mission to create a company that offers opportunity, lessons, and innovation and serves all industries and sectors.

He begins to share his journey from his second-year university period, when the only thing he knew for certain was that what he wanted to do most was create a demand for himself. “Around the year 2010, I was in my second year, and during my industrial practical training period, commonly referred to as fieldwork, I went out there and chose to start practicing as a consultant,” he shares.

“I was with a company called Salesforce at the time and it was intriguing to me at the time, the state in which technology was at. This was a time when buying software would require the use of a CD, the internet was not what it is today, and e-commerce wasn’t yet a thing.

“My vision then was around that, because these were things that were beyond that time but also things that Tanzania really needed,” he adds. “My selling point was my curiosity about how big companies out there were doing things, and my question was why this wasn’t so in Tanzania and Africa.”

However, why would a student opt to do their practical training as a consultant? Preparation is key. Positioning is crucial. Bruno understood this concept early and prepared accordingly.

“When I then went to do my field work, I made sure I put my value on the table, and based on the negotiations, I was able to charge as a consultant after showcasing what I could provide, what the company at hand could save, and how far ahead of their competitors they could be,” Bruno explains.

This way, he proved that he wasn’t just another student off the rooster but a key player whose value was indispensable.

That was Bruno’s first step in positioning himself toward building his vision. “My office was my university. When I finished school, I came back home and went to Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) who at the time were looking for innovators. They had started an incubator called the Dar Teknohama Business Incubator (DTBi), where I went and pitched my idea. I also pitched the idea to my friends who joined me and we were given an office where we started the company Smart Codes,” he shares.

Bruno and Co had initially begun as a software company but pivoted to digital advertising because of the then-fast-growing numbers of internet users on Facebook, Google, and other platforms.

Slowly but surely, the company began to pick up traction and grew from a team of 1 up to 50 people. The year 2015 also saw them expand into even more activity. “We observed at the time, some of the struggles in the media, especially in print media, such as consumer access to and interest in newspapers. “We figured this was another opportunity we could tap into and decided to help digitise access to newspapers. We then built the M-Paper app, and after launching it, it won the best innovation app in Africa in 2015,” he shared.

However, up until this point, the company was known for a vast number of services, but the subsidiaries and what they do were not yet well known. “We then decided to redefine the company because of the number of high-end customers in our portfolio who we believed deserved better in terms of what exactly we are doing and pull together the different branches into something easily understood,” Bruno says.

This was the birth of Smart Africa Group (SAG), the parent company to Smart Codes, Smart Studio, Smart Foundry, Smart Knology, and Smart Labs. As the parent, SAG focuses on the strategy, administrative work, financing, and investments, leaving the five subsidiaries to focus on and grow their core businesses.

SAG builds interconnected platform companies that aim to solve African challenges. “We do research and development, business development and management, as well as strategy and consulting, to enable our clients and partners to make a mark in their industries,” says Bruno

As such, SAG’s portfolio of companies spans many industries, including marketing, technology, product development, innovation, and content creation, which are served by its subsidiaries.

Smart Codes deals primarily with advertising and digital media.

Smart Knology deals with technology consultancy, web technology solutions, system and platform management, payment integration services, digital research, monitoring and reporting, and mobile app development, among others. Clients include NMB, the World Bank, Amana Bank, CBA, Vodacom, and MTN.

Smart Studio is a fully-fledged studio and production company that does jingles, animation, and pretty much all you might see on TV.

Smart Labs is an innovation lab that focuses on corporations and works to help them understand how innovation works. It also connects corporations, students, and startups in order to accelerate their growth through tailor-made mentorship programs with their partner, Vodacom.

Smart Foundry essentially partners with other corporations in order to develop products, e.g., the M-Paper app, which was recently rebranded to Rifaly; Kwanza, a market targeting software for advertisers; and Ezy-Gazeti, a digital newsstand for Zantel.

Current industry challenges

Despite the success, Bruno highlights some of the challenges in the tech space as follows: a limited number of mentors to support entrepreneurs; poor infrastructure to support technological vision; and the struggle to find good talent in the market to execute the vision. He attributes the latter to the few people who understand the demands of the global market and get training accordingly.

He further states that financial support from investors and financial institutions remains a challenge due to the lack of faith in entrepreneurs and the need for collateral.

What is the ultimate goal?

While all of this has assisted the company in expanding and tailoring its market reach, the one recurring theme, purpose, and vision is creating opportunity in every sector with technology at the core.

Smart Codes has been known as “the company that does a lot of accelerator programs,” which technically is Smart Lab’s core business. What Bruno decided to become intentional about was addressing a societal problem where technology and the youth are concerned.

Each subsidiary is an avenue for putting Tanzania’s tech space on the wider global market while simultaneously grooming a generation that is forward-thinking and able to navigate the tech space to solve a myriad of African challenges.

As the company’s slogan goes, “Until it is done,” Mr Bruno promises the growth of SAG will be for the sole purpose of unlocking unlimited opportunities.