Dar es Salaam. Tanzania needs to change the narrative around its creative and innovation sectors by giving greater visibility to local innovators, entrepreneurs and cultural heritage that remain largely unknown to the public, stakeholders have said.
They said greater attention to Tanzanians developing products, creating businesses, applying technology and preserving cultural heritage could help demonstrate that opportunities existed within the country while inspiring more young people to pursue their own ideas.
The call followed the conclusion of the 12th edition of Innovation Week, which brought together innovators and entrepreneurs.
Founder and chief executive officer of TechThiz, Jamal Saidi, said the country needed to tell more stories about people developing solutions locally rather than focusing mainly on what was lacking.
“Most local innovators, entrepreneurs and cultural heritage initiatives usually struggle to receive the attention that could help solve many problems in society,” he said.
Mr Saidi said the lack of visibility could influence how Tanzanians viewed their own potential, with public attention often directed towards opportunities and achievements outside the country.
“This matters because the stories a country tells about itself can influence how its citizens understand their own potential,” he said.
His argument was echoed by Kiss Me Later founder, Gladness Faustine, who said limited visibility of local entrepreneurs could make young people believe that success and opportunities were more readily available in other countries.
“Seeing success associated with other countries can create the impression that opportunities are always somewhere else,” she said.
Ms Faustine said telling stories about Tanzanians developing technologies for farmers, building businesses and solving local problems could create a stronger sense of possibility among young people.
“Showing Tanzanians building businesses, developing technologies and solving local problems could help demonstrate that opportunities also exist within the country,” she said.
The growing availability of technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), could further expand these opportunities by giving young people access to knowledge and skills developed around the world, according to AI expert Salumu Godfrey.
“Gen Z can use AI to gain knowledge that has been developed in other parts of the world,” he said.
Mr Godfrey said young people could use AI to learn new skills, research ideas, understand emerging technologies and study how other countries had addressed challenges similar to those facing Tanzania.
However, he cautioned that learning from other countries should not amount to simply copying their solutions.
“Learning from others does not mean copying. It means adapting what has been learned to local conditions, resources, culture and consumer needs to create solutions that respond specifically to Tanzanians,” he said.
The approach, he said, could allow young Tanzanians to spend less time starting from scratch and instead build on knowledge and experiences already developed elsewhere while applying them to local challenges.
Media practitioner Haji Balou said coverage of local innovation should go beyond celebrating individual success and instead show the wider challenges facing the country and the people working to address them.
“The narrative should not simply be about promoting success. It should provide a more complete picture of the country by showing both the challenges it faces and the people working to address them,” he shared.
Mr Balou said greater visibility of local businesses and innovations could also help entrepreneurs connect with customers, business partners and potential investors.
“Tanzania already has people creating, innovating, preserving and building businesses and communities,” he said.
However, stakeholders said changing the narrative would require more than media coverage, arguing that government policies also needed to create an environment in which young entrepreneurs could grow.
Dominick Dismas said the government needed to be at the forefront of supporting young entrepreneurs through policies that reduced barriers to starting and formalising businesses.
“Young entrepreneurs need policies that make it easier to start and formalise businesses, access finance, acquire skills, reach markets and adopt new technologies,” he explained.
He added that support for innovation should extend to research and development, intellectual property protection, digital infrastructure and opportunities that could help innovators take their ideas from development to the market.
