Tanzania urged to turn innovations into businesses, jobs
Tanzanian officials are urging a shift in the national innovation strategy to focus on commercializing research rather than just showcasing prototypes. The goal is to bridge the gap between academic ideas and industrial production to drive job creation and economic growth.
Why it matters
This highlights a common developmental challenge in emerging economies where research output often fails to translate into tangible economic impact.
Josephine Christopher is a senior business journalist for The Citizen and Mwananchi newspapers
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania must shift its focus from celebrating innovative ideas to ensuring they reach the market, create businesses and jobs, and solve problems facing citizens, speakers at the opening of Innovation Week Tanzania 2026 have said.
The call puts commercialisation and practical impact at the centre of this year’s Innovation Week, as government, the private sector, researchers and innovators seek to address what remains a key weakness in the country’s innovation ecosystem.
Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (Costech ) Director General Dr Amos Nungu said Tanzania had no shortage of innovative ideas or young people with the ability to develop solutions, but needed a stronger system for taking those ideas from conception and prototypes into commercial production.
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