Anza, in partnership with Village Capital, is excited to launch an Investment Readiness Accelerator for Social Enterprises to support entrepreneurs helping to solve Tanzania’s social and innovation challenges.

Low Access to Essential Social Services: Tanzania faces immense social challenges, with a majority of the population lacking access to clean water, the national energy grid, financial services, and affordable healthcare, education and food.

High Unemployment: Rates of unemployment in Tanzania are rising. Every year, 800,000 Tanzanians enter the labour market but there are only enough jobs for 50,000 of them, of which the vast majority are considered “vulnerable” and informal working agreements.   

Underdeveloped Innovation Ecosystem: Tanzania has low business growth in part due to an ecosystem that lacks robust, coordinated pillars of (a) capacity building, (b) access to networks, and (c) access to appropriate types and sufficient amounts of capital.

Entrepreneurs can solve these challenges. Innovators have the potential to develop disruptive and scalable products and services that help this large and growing population while generating job growth and local economic development. However, early-stage entrepreneurs often lack the necessary training, networks, and capital to grow.

Programme Overview

We’re seeking startups from all regions of Tanzania that are tackling the largest challenges in the country’s most critical social sectors of:

(1) Education
(2) Healthcare
(3) Financial inclusion
(4) Clean energy
(5) Agriculture
(6) Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

The programme includes a series of workshops – these are typically four-day engagements – that provide our entrepreneurs with training to develop their business models, financials, pitches, sales pipelines, and other aspects. Entrepreneurs will also have one-on-one time with mentors, industry experts, investors, top local business leaders, and potential customers.

Selected startups are required to have one C-level team member attend all three workshops, and Anza will bear flight and lodging costs for any non-Dar-based participants.

At the end of the programme, two early-stage businesses will be selected by the other entrepreneurs in their cohort to win between $10,000 to $50,000 in funding.

The workshops will take place on the following dates:

Workshop 1: May 6 – 9, 2019 – Dar es Salaam
Workshop 2: June 10 – 13, 2019 – Dar es Salaam
Workshop 3: July 22 – 25, 2019 – Dar es Salaam

For more information about the programme, please see our FAQ.

Application

The application window is now closed. 

Partners

Advisory Board