Tanzania: Empowering Youth through Innovation and Inclusion

This policy brief, produced by the South African Institute of International Affairs as part of the 'Youth and Social Justice Futures' project, outlines strategic priorities to empower Tanzanian youth. Based on foresight workshops using Youth Futures Literacy Labs and the Three Horizons Framework, the document advocates for technological integration, unrestricted access to information, and comprehensive employment policy reforms to address challenges such as educational exclusion, outdated curricula, and limited youth representation in decision-making.

• Tanzanian youth face significant barriers to education and skill development, with millions of children out of school and a perceived gap between official curricula and the actual 21st-century skills possessed by graduates.
• Youth in Tanzania are underrepresented in governance, particularly at the local level, with only 27% reporting meaningful involvement in local government meetings that determine development plans and budgets.
• Young innovators in Tanzania struggle to scale their ideas due to corruption, restrictive regulatory frameworks, cultural disparities, and limited access to bank loans for start-ups.
• The document recommends that the Ministry of Information, Communication and Information Technology prioritize technological transformation by partnering with entities such as M-Pesa, Google Loon, and IBM Research Africa to improve productivity and equity.
• To ensure unrestricted access to information, the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority and other bodies should implement digital literacy programmes and expand connectivity, specifically targeting women and girls through a gender-transformative approach.
• The Prime Minister’s Office – Labour, Youth, Employment and Persons with Disabilities is urged to lead employment reforms focusing on vocational training, fair pay, and the promotion of sectors like agro-processing and manufacturing to diversify the economy.
• Demographic data from 2022 indicates that youth (aged 15–35) constitute a substantial portion of the population, with a slight decrease to 34.5% on the mainland but an increase to 37.03% in Zanzibar.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2024). Tanzania: Empowering Youth through Innovation and Inclusion. https://saiia.org.za/research/tanzania-empowering-youth-through-innovation-and-inclusion/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Tanzania: Empowering Youth through Innovation and Inclusion. 2024. https://saiia.org.za/research/tanzania-empowering-youth-through-innovation-and-inclusion/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Tanzania: Empowering Youth through Innovation and Inclusion |date=23 January 2024 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/tanzania-empowering-youth-through-innovation-and-inclusion/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2024tanzania, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Tanzania: Empowering Youth through Innovation and Inclusion}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2024}, month = jan, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/tanzania-empowering-youth-through-innovation-and-inclusion/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }