Arusha. The Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF) is set to partner with the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) in research and technological innovation, including artificial intelligence (AI) and data science.
The partnership is aimed at strengthening local capacity to develop technologies for defence and other areas of national development, following the TPDF's recognition of expertise, infrastructure and technological capabilities available at the institution.
The development was announced on Friday, September 11, 2026, by the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), General Jacob Mkunda, after visiting NM-AIST in Arumeru District, Arusha Region.
General Mkunda said the visit had demonstrated that Tanzania has local institutions with the expertise and infrastructure needed to develop technologies that the country has often sought from outside.
“TPDF has realised that we have been going outside Tanzania and even beyond Africa in search of technology, yet we have an institution here where we can obtain technology or collaborate on research into different defence technologies and other areas,” he said.
He said the TPDF and NM-AIST would move towards formalising the partnership through an agreement covering research and technology, while also strengthening relations between the two institutions.
“We are going to enter into an agreement to collaborate with this institution in technology and various research areas, and we will continue to strengthen our relationship,” General Mkunda said.
NM-AIST Vice Chancellor, Professor Maulilio Kipanyula, said the partnership would focus on strategic technology areas, including AI, data science and other emerging technologies, with the aim of building local capacity to develop home-grown solutions.
“What we expect from this partnership is for the TPDF and our institution to combine our expertise, resources and existing infrastructure so that we can start producing technologies and innovations that directly benefit our country,” he said.
Professor Kipanyula said the initiative was also in line with the country's Development Vision 2050, which, he said, could not be achieved by relying heavily on knowledge and technologies developed abroad.
“To implement the vision, we cannot depend on knowledge and technology from outside. As part of these efforts, we have started this journey by bringing our strengths together so that we can produce the technologies needed in various productive and service sectors in our country,” he said.
He said NM-AIST was ready to work with other local institutions and called on stakeholders to take advantage of the opportunity to strengthen Tanzania's technological capacity.
“We welcome all stakeholders who want to work with us to come together and combine our strengths because we are building one country. We want to move away from the culture of conducting research in isolation and instead conduct research together with society,” he said.
