Renowned for her sharp strategic mind and disciplined operational approach, she has established herself as a leading business and transformation expert in East Africa
Dar es Salaam. In today’s fast-evolving corporate landscape, where high-stakes decisions redefine industries and data drives every strategic move, Beatrice Nyamari distinguishes herself not merely by vision, but by execution.
With a sharp strategic intellect and a disciplined operational approach, she has emerged as one of East Africa’s most respected business and transformation leaders.
Her strength lies not only in crafting bold strategies, but in translating them into tangible, measurable outcomes that reshape organizations.
With more than 15 years of experience across Sub-Saharan Africa, she has led complex cross-border transformations for global brands including Visa, Coca-Cola and Airtel Africa.
Today, she serves as Managing Director of Smart Codes Ltd, where she is driving digital innovation, operational excellence and strategic expansion from Tanzania to international markets.
Recognised by Business Monthly as one of East Africa’s leading corporate executives, Ms Nyamari is not only building brands but actively shaping an ecosystem that connects technology, business and policy.
She is the founder of the Tanzania Digital Summit, in partnership with the Tanzania Marketing Science Association, a Board Advisor for Azaavi Foods, and a mentor to startups through the Vodacom Digital Accelerator and the Mastercard Women Work Program.
“Curiosity shaped my career. My journey into media and marketing did not begin in a creative department, but in finance,” she said, adding, “I have a curious mind that ensures I continuously learn and stay ahead.”
Her first role was as an accountant in an advertising agency, a position that offered her a front-row seat to the mechanics of media and marketing. According to her, she immersed herself in agency management and brand strategy, earning what she describes as her “stripes” as a media practitioner.
Through interactions with clients across multiple industries, she came to understand that marketing extends far beyond product promotion. It is about decoding human behaviour and designing meaningful, lasting experiences.
With the rise of artificial intelligence, sustainability marketing and carbon credit frameworks, she believes the industry has entered a defining era of transformation. “We are not just selling products anymore. We are building responsible brands that consider their environmental and social impact,” she said.
She explains that her success as a woman in leadership is not about confronting bias alone, but about delivering undeniable value.
“Success as a woman is not a measure of how you beat bias, but a sum of what you deliver as an individual,” she said.
Throughout her career, she has drawn strength from mentors both women and men who challenged her to pursue excellence and shaped her leadership philosophy. Yet her deepest source of inspiration remains her family.
Her late mother instilled ambition and a strong work ethic, while her father, Mr Nyamari, taught her the importance of purpose.
“Leadership without purpose is empty. Career accolades mean little if they do not translate into meaningful impact,” she often reflects, echoing her father’s wisdom.
Having worked across Africa, the Middle East, Europe and India, she has developed what she describes as a “glo-cal” leadership style combining global standards with local realities.
From overseeing media and digital operations across 17 markets at Airtel Africa to managing regional integrations at Coca-Cola, she learned that strategies cannot simply be replicated.
They must be thoughtfully adapted to local nuance while maintaining global excellence.
“Leadership is not given. It is taken. You have to rise and take the opportunity of responsibility,” she said.
At Smart Codes, her role carries full profit-and-loss responsibility. Her days revolve around strategic planning, business development, agile project management and rigorous performance analysis.
Yet, she insists, the heart of her leadership remains people. She leads a team integrating artificial intelligence-driven marketing automation, advanced consumer insight tools and sustainability-led campaigns designed to create long-term value.
Under her stewardship, the company has secured multiple global and regional awards, reinforcing the message that African talent can compete and win on the world stage.
“Smart Codes is not just my day job. It is part of my legacy work,” she said.
Building Tanzania’s digital voice
Frustrated by what she calls Africa’s “data darkness,” she founded the Tanzania Digital Summit to help shift the industry from intuition-led decision-making to a data-driven strategy culture.
Through partnerships and collaboration, the Summit has evolved into a platform that convenes practitioners, policymakers and innovators to shape conversations around artificial intelligence, green marketing and digital transformation in East Africa.
Her vision is firm: Africa must move beyond merely following global trends and instead craft its own narrative, grounded in local realities and informed by credible data.
During her tenure at Coca-Cola, she managed Coke Studio Africa across 12 countries and co-launched one of the brand’s largest regional integrations across 32 markets.
She also contributed to youth-focused initiatives such as Copa Coca-Cola and Airtel Rising Stars, programmes designed to nurture talent and inspire ambition.
Yet when asked about her greatest achievement, she does not point to campaigns or revenue growth.
“It is the young people I mentored who are now global and regional leaders,” she said. “That is the legacy that matters most.”
For her, mentorship is not an extracurricular activity; it is central to her purpose. Whether speaking at the AllAfrica Media Leaders Summit, judging the 34th Annual MMG Awards, or guiding startups, she views leadership as a responsibility to elevate others.
An Economics and Business Management graduate of Kenyatta University, Ms Nyamari credits her academic foundation with shaping her understanding of marketing as both art and science.
In an era defined by digital disruption, she continues to upskill, embracing emerging areas such as ESG principles, Social Return on Investment and artificial intelligence.
“In a world of digital disruption, if you stop learning, you stop leading,” she said.
The meaning of a rising woman
To her, being a rising woman means solving real African challenges while lifting others along the way. It means building institutions rooted in Africa yet competitive on the global stage.
It means advocating for climate action, food security and responsible technology.
Further, she notes, it also means showing up fully at work, in mentorship and at home.
Sometimes that balance looks like teaching her eight-year-old son about the human skeleton through song while drafting a new engagement framework at the kitchen table.
“That is not distraction,” she said with a smile. “That is life, fully lived.” In every role she occupies executive, mentor, founder and mother she continues to prove that true leadership is measured not only by strategy, but by the depth of its impact.
