Dar es Salaam — Vice President Deogratius Ndejembi has challenged banks, investors and startup-support organisations to measure their success not by the number of ideas tested, but by the number of early-stage companies that become durable businesses, create jobs and reach customers.

The intervention at the October 19 opening of Tanzania Startup Week 2026 put a practical question at the centre of the five-day gathering: how far are funders and public institutions helping founders move from an idea, through incubation and testing, into a company that can operate independently?

“A startup must go through incubation,” Ndejembi said during a tour of exhibition stands. “After incubation, a startup must graduate from being a startup and become a fully grown company.”

The October 19 to 23 event at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre in Dar es Salaam was convened under the theme Building Tanzania’s Startup Economy. It brings together founders, investors, banks, development partners, policymakers and innovation-support organisations for discussions on capital, markets, the policy environment and job creation.

The Vice President’s remarks came after NMB Bank, the event’s main sponsor, said it had set aside Sh2 billion to support technology startups and had tested more than 300 innovations through its Sandbox since 2021. Yet the bank said six startups had so far been integrated into its systems, a figure it aims to increase to 30 by 2030, giving successful firms a route to the lender’s customer base of more than 10 million people.

READ MORE: Tanzania Unveils Sh5 Billion Financing Push to Grow Local ICT Startups 

Ndejembi welcomed the initiative but asked for evidence of what happens after support is announced, including how much financing has actually been disbursed and how many firms have expanded. “The challenge is not capital. The challenge is risk,” he said, referring to businesses that lack the collateral conventional lenders often require.

NMB’s own statement says its upgraded core banking system should allow faster integration of financial-technology companies. The bank said it has already tested more than 300 innovations, while six startups have been integrated, figures that illustrate both the scale of experimentation and the narrower task of turning tests into commercial partnerships.

The distinction matters because a startup is usually an early-stage business seeking a repeatable product and a model that can grow quickly. An exhibition, a prototype or a sandbox test can establish technical promise, but financing, regulation, market access and business capability often determine whether the company survives beyond that stage.

A Ministry of Communication and Information Technology policy document identifies a thin formal-finance and private-investment ecosystem, collateral barriers, limited investment-readiness training, costly research facilities and regulatory compliance as obstacles to digital innovation. It calls for funding schemes, innovation hubs, commercialisation support, market promotion and capital investment.

Important signs

There are signs of a larger pool of investment interest. FurtherAfrica reported, citing Africa: The Big Deal data, that Tanzania’s startups raised about US$52 million in the first half of 2026, although that figure measures announced funding rather than whether individual companies have become sustainable.

READ MORE: Tanzania’s Startup Ecosystem: Building for the Long Game 

The event’s exhibition offered examples of how founders are trying to address those barriers. These include Eco Mobility, which presented a loan platform for motorcycle and three-wheeler operators; Kazi, which said it connects workers such as cleaners and cooks with employers; and Ubopay, which presented an escrow-style online-payment service that releases funds after a customer confirms receipt of goods.

Other exhibitors included Settle Technologies, which said its digital record-keeping system helps small traders track sales, stock and expenses and generate reports that may support applications for business loans. Ndejembi asked whether its system could also align records with the Tanzania Revenue Authority, and the company said it allowed integration for tax reporting.

TE Safari presented Nuru, which it described as a Kiswahili programming language intended to make coding more accessible to learners educated in Kiswahili. Ndejembi praised the presentation but raised a question shared by many young companies: whether the enterprise had the capacity to keep developing its product if demand rose rapidly.

Execution

That emphasis on execution ran through the opening. Lilian Makoi, chairperson of Tanzania Startup Week, said the first two editions had brought together more than 4,000 participants, engaged more than 1,000 startups, attracted more than 200 investors and convened a stated capital pool above US$600 million.

The Tanzania Startup Association, whose chief executive, Zahoro Muhaji, was among the event leaders, is an umbrella body working with founders, public agencies, universities, investors and development partners to advocate for startup-friendly policy and connect the ecosystem. 

READ MORE: Here Is Why It Is Hard to Invest in Tech Startups In Tanzania 

Alongside it, the ministry’s JamiiHunt platform says it has registered more than 200 startups and 50 innovation hubs nationwide, underscoring the growing number of intermediaries seeking to connect entrepreneurs to capital and support.

For government, the stakes extend beyond technology companies. Ndejembi said startups could address practical problems in agriculture, health care, education, finance and transport while creating work for young people, and said President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration would continue to pursue a supportive policy and legal environment.