A young Tanzanian entrepreneur counts the days to Slush
Five young Tanzanian entrepreneurs will leave for Helsinki next week to attend Slush, an event for growth companies and technology. Godfrey Magila is coming to present a mobile application that enables ordinary citizens to participate in politics.
GodfreyMagila has a degree in accounting and finance. While studying he set up his own enterprise. His trip is supported by TanzICT, a bilateral ICT project between Finland and Tanzania.
Magila can be called a social entrepreneur. He wants to develop mobile applications that enable even marginalized people to take part in political decision-making. He talks about transparent governance, corruption and the distance between the political elite and others.
“I have always wanted to create a change in society through innovation. Tanzanians are interested in politics, but the nature of politics here discourages active involvement. After visiting the Parliament, I realized what a deep gap there is between the Parliament and ordinary citizens. I saw a new opportunity here and started to work on my MParliament idea.
Access to politics by phone
Tanzania has 27million mobile phone subscribers, and 80% of people in rural areas use a mobile phone.
“I got the idea of promoting people’s political participation through mobile phones, and I have worked on developing my idea for a few years,” Magila says.
He considers it a privilege to have the opportunity to visit Finland.
“Finland’s IT sector is truly fascinating, and I expect to get new contacts, ides and market opportunities. It is interesting to see how things work in Finland. Aside from Slush, we will meet investors and visit enterprises. I have prepared by refining my own sales readiness.”
Slush has grown in the last few years to become the largest startup event in the Nordic countries, gathering together 10,000 participants and 2,500 enterprises.
One of the main themes this year for Slush is impact investing. Alongside a financial return, investors are increasingly interested in projects that aim for beneficial social or environmental impacts.
BEAM singles out rising talents in developing countries
The BEAM development innovation programme, a joint venture of Tekes and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, will be launched during Slush. BEAM seeks to develop innovations that improve the lives of people with limited means.
“We want to bring together rising talents from developing countries and Finnish experts. Developing countries have truly interesting enterprises and business ideas that can help find solutions for poverty reduction, environmental problems, or even health care,” says Aki Enkenberg, Senior Adviser for Development Policy at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
The TanzICT Innovation Fund Award Ceremony was held at the HubLab Innovation Space in Dar es Salaam in October. Young Tanzanian entrepreneurs prepared to give their pitches about their business ideas and received a total of 70,000 euros in financing for their further development.
“Together with the TanzICT team, we have coached young entrepreneurs and followed their promising development this year. The entrepreneurs have no previous experience of financing negotiations or encounters with international technology companies. Slush is an excellent opportunity for these most promising Tanzanian startup entrepreneurs to reach still further and invest in their own future,” says Teemu Seppälä, Innovation Advisor of TanzICT.
The bilateral ICT project between Finland and Tanzania (TanzICT) channels financing for promising young people’s innovative projects. Five of the awarded young people are coming with their business ideas to conquer Helsinki in November.
Nora Stenius