Innovation Week Tanzania 2026
- Julius Nyerere International Convention Center (JNICC), Dar es salaam, Dar es Salaam
From Aspirations to Transformation: Innovating Tanzania's Path to Inclusive Prosperity"
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IWTz 2026 Keynote Speakers
Meet industry leaders and innovators shaping Tanzania’s future
Hon. Prof. Kitila Mkumbo
Minister of State for Planning and Investment
Dr. Blandina Kilama
Deputy Executive Secretary for Trade & Innovation
Shigeki Komatsubara
Resident Representative of UNDP Tanzania.
The Imperative: From Aspiration to Transformation
Tanzania stands at a defining moment. The bold aspirations of Dira 2050 are now on the threshold of implementation—and the distance between vision and value, between national ambition and lived prosperity, will be determined by the choices, investments, and innovations made in the years immediately ahead. The pace of global change—driven by rapid technological advancement, climate urgency, demographic momentum, and intensifying economic competition—demands that Tanzania move with speed, coherence, and purpose. It requires a move from “business as usual” to “business unusual”.
Dira 2050 calls Tanzania toward a specific destiny: a prosperous, equitable, and self-reliant nation with a competitive 1Trillion-Dollar industrial economy, a highly skilled workforce, preserved natural resources, and a society built on justice, dignity, and solidarity. Translating that vision into tangible value for every Tanzanian demand that innovation and technology become not optional enhancers, but the central engines of the next phase of national development.
New business models, digital infrastructure, green solutions, youth-led entrepreneurship, and cross-sector collaboration are already proving capable of fueling faster growth, creating quality jobs at scale, building resilience, and positioning Tanzania as a competitive, future-ready economy in Africa and beyond. The three pillars of Dira 2050—a strong, inclusive and competitive economy; human capabilities and social development; and environmental integrity and climate change resilience—alongside its five strategic accelerators (integrated logistics, energy, science and technology, research and development, and digital transformation) provide the organizing framework for moving from mere aspirations to a real transformation.
The time for translation is now. Tanzania’s innovators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and citizens must move together—from planning to doing, from promise to prosperity.
About Innovation Week Tanzania
Innovation Week Tanzania (IWTz) is the country’s leading platform for catalyzing this transformation. Since 2015, it has brought together innovators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, researchers, corporates, development partners, investors, and youth to showcase home-grown ingenuity, forge powerful cross-sector partnerships, address policy bottlenecks, and drive the rapid scaling of solutions that matter. In its 12th edition now, the IWTz platform has evolved into a powerful catalyst—not just for celebration, but for policy influence, investment mobilization, and the commercialization and scaling of Tanzanian-led innovation at the speed the moment requires.
Why Now
Tanzania is experiencing unprecedented momentum: strong economic fundamentals, a youthful and increasingly digitally connected population, expanding private-sector dynamism, and growing regional and global integration. This is the precise window to move from vision to value—to lay the foundations for the long-term, inclusive, andcompetitive future enshrined in Dira 2050.
IWTz2026 builds directly on the energy, partnerships, and lessons of the highly successful 2025 edition. It arrives at a critical juncture as the country officially enters the implementation era of Dira 2050, serving as the national innovation platform to:
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Align stakeholders around the shared priorities of Dira 2050
Showcase scalable, high-impact innovations that translate the ambitions into real-world value
Strengthen the enabling environment for rapid and inclusive growth
Position innovation, technology, and youth leadership as the decisive drivers of Tanzania’s path to inclusive prosperity
Why Sponsor IWTz2026
Partners and sponsors of Innovation Week Tanzania share a common vision of a Tanzania that embraces and actively promotes, supports and utilizes innovation. This vision is in line with the Tanzania’s Government agenda, capitalizing on Science, Technology and Innovation The platform offers great value for money for both public and private sector organizations. This support goes towards free access to the platform’s content throughout the week to thousands of participants.
Besides getting a chance of being part of changemakers that are strengthening the Tanzania’s innovation ecosystem, sponsoring the Innovation Week is also a great way to further enhance the organization’s brand and visibility, and contributing to the wider policy conversation about innovation in the country.
Sponsors IWTz2026
