UNDP urges Tanzanian universities to turn research into businesses to tackle jobs crisis

Arusha. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has urged Tanzanian universities and higher learning institutions to move beyond academic publications and turn research findings into products, services and viable businesses capable of addressing social challenges, creating jobs and driving economic growth.

UNDP Resident Representative in Tanzania Shigeki Komatsubara said commercialising research would help graduates move away from relying solely on employment opportunities created by others and instead become job creators and innovators.

He made the call in Arusha on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, during the 10th convocation ceremony at the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST).

Mr Komatsubara said Tanzania’s transition towards a middle-income economy could no longer depend solely on traditional sectors, stressing the need to accelerate the shift towards a knowledge-based economy driven by research, technology and innovation.

He said higher learning institutions had a critical role to play in the transformation because they were expected to serve as sources of knowledge, technologies and solutions capable of addressing contemporary challenges.

“This is why I urge higher learning institutions not to stop at producing academic publications, but to ensure that research conducted in laboratories is transformed into solutions that are ready for use by the market,” he said.

He challenged graduates to rethink their approach to employment by becoming creators of opportunities and value rather than merely job seekers.

According to him, the current generation has the potential to create jobs and economic opportunities that do not exist today through technology, entrepreneurship, modern agriculture, green technologies and digital financial services.

“The good job you are looking for may not yet exist. It may be created by your generation through your passion and innovation,” he said.

Mr Komatsubara also said Tanzania needed to make a significant economic shift from reliance on existing sectors towards a knowledge-driven economy to increase productivity, global competitiveness and the country’s capacity to generate productive employment.

He said research and technologies developed locally should translate into tangible outcomes across manufacturing, agriculture, financial services, environmental management, the green economy and other key development sectors.

He added that such a transformation was particularly important as Tanzania implements its Development Vision 2050, which seeks to build a productive and competitive economy increasingly driven by knowledge and innovation.

“What is important is to strengthen the link between universities, the government, the private sector and entrepreneurs so that research produced can reach its intended beneficiaries and the market,” he said.

Mr Komatsubara said UNDP would continue working with Tanzania to strengthen talent, skills, innovation and opportunities, moving beyond the traditional donor-recipient model towards creating platforms for dialogue, collaboration and joint problem-solving.

He said the agency would also support efforts to unlock financing from domestic and international sources to accelerate the commercialisation of research and innovation.

“We will work with Tanzania to accelerate the commercialisation of research and innovation, including through Innovation Week Tanzania, which has identified research and innovation commercialisation as one of its key areas,” he said.

NM-AIST Vice Chancellor, Prof Maulilio Kipanyula said the convocation was designed to provide prospective graduates with an opportunity to interact with alumni who had successfully conducted research, developed innovations and commercialised them to address community challenges.

He said the initiative was also intended to demonstrate how research and innovation could create employment opportunities and contribute to national economic development.

“Our focus now is to generate knowledge and develop professionals capable of transforming research into solutions that can be used by communities and the industrial sector, contributing to the national economy rather than producing graduates who remain dependent,” he said.

Prof Kipanyula said Tanzania could no longer afford to remain primarily a consumer of technologies developed abroad, but needed to build domestic capacity to develop, improve and commercialise technologies that respond to the country’s needs and priorities.

He said Tanzania’s and Africa’s future would depend not only on the amount of knowledge generated by higher learning institutions, but also on their ability to convert that knowledge into practical solutions, jobs, businesses and improved livelihoods.

“Tanzania and Africa need institutions capable of turning science into solutions, research into results and innovation into inclusive economic growth,” he said.

Addressing the prospective graduates, Prof Kipanyula urged them to use the knowledge they had acquired with integrity, creativity and courage to tackle challenges facing Tanzania, Africa and the wider world.

He emphasised that the degrees they were about to receive should not be viewed as the end of their learning journey, but as the beginning of their contribution to society.