EfD Tanzania joined the Youth-to-Business Forum 2026 as an ecosystem partner, helping youth develop business proposals and pitch their ideas at the forum. Held on July 4th at Buni Innovation Hub in Dar es Salaam, the event encouraged young people to see entrepreneurship as a way to create employment while contributing to sustainable development and poverty reduction.
Many young Tanzanians enter the labor market with valuable knowledge but limited employment opportunities. At the same time, communities and businesses continue to face environmental and development challenges that demand locally grounded solutions.
EfD Tanzania sought to connect these two realities through its partnership with AIESEC (Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales) in the Youth-to-Business Forum 2026. The forum was held on July 4th at Buni Innovation Hub in Dar es Salaam under the theme “Empowering Tomorrow: Accelerating Youth Innovation for Sustainable Growth.” The program included keynote addresses, a panel discussion, a pitching competition, and an award ceremony. As a key partner, EfD Tanzania helped students develop business solutions to challenges in agriculture, waste, energy, and the circular economy.
EfD Tanzania’s role extended beyond organizing and participating in the event itself. Ahead of the forum, the center worked with students at the University of Dar es Salaam through the Skillika Programme, guiding them to identify sustainability challenges, develop structured business proposals, and prepare investor‑focused pitches. By equipping young people with the tools to innovate, EfD Tanzania is helping to build a generation ready to drive sustainable growth and shape the country’s future.
Universities as problem solving institutions
Representing EfD Tanzania at the forum, Ms. Fisha Isaac delivered a keynote address titled The Role of Academia in Building Tanzania’s Innovation Ecosystem. She challenged the notion that universities are detached from everyday realities.
“A university is a part of a nation’s problem solving infrastructure,” she said.
Fisha Isaac invited participants to reflect on problems so common they risk being overlooked, graduates struggling to find work, farmers losing crops, communities facing repeated floods, and power cuts disrupting production. These challenges, she argued, are the raw material of innovation when transformed into research questions, practical designs, policies, and enterprises.
Her keynote underscored the “missing middle” between knowledge and impact, where promising ideas often stall without mentorship, finance, or institutional support. Innovation, she reminded the audience, is not only about technology but also about new ways of reducing crop losses, improving services, or strengthening programs. It is creating solutions for everyday issues.
Innovation requires persistence and practical testing
Kalebu Gwalugano, founder and CEO of Neurotech Africa, spoke about artificial intelligence as a tool for innovation and growth. As an entrepreneur himself, Gwalugano urged students to, “Speak to users before falling in love with your solution. Test on a small scale. Collect evidence.”
Guest of honor Zahoro Muhaji, CEO of the Tanzania Startup Association, also encouraged young people to remain committed to their ideas. “You have to be true to your idea and keep pushing, even if it means knocking on doors without an invitation,” he said.
The speakers emphasized that promising ideas need more than enthusiasm. Young innovators must understand their users, test their assumptions, improve their solutions, and remain persistent when they face setbacks. For start-ups, all that matters at first is staying alive, as long as your idea is viable and solving a real problem.
Supporting ideas beyond the forum
EfD Tanzania’s support did not end with the Youth to Business Forum event. Through the Skillika Programme, students had already been guided from identifying a sustainability challenge to developing a business proposal and presenting it to potential investors. At the forum, EfD Tanzania provided further support through panel discussions, judging process, and offers of continued mentorship to selected winners.
This pathway, from understanding a problem to developing, pitching, and refining a possible solution, helps close the “missing middle” between academic knowledge and practical impact. It also shows how universities can combine academic knowledge and entrepreneurship training to help young people create livelihoods while addressing challenges facing their communities.
For EfD Tanzania, the forum was therefore not simply a one day event. It was part of a longer effort to help promising ideas move from the classroom into communities and markets.