Panelists at the Africa Blockchain Festival 2025 in Kigali, Rwanda, themed: “From Hype to Impact: What Blockchain Is Really Doing for Africa.” From left are Blockchain, P2P & Fintech Leader Sunny Imoh; crypto and business content creator from Kenya Mumo James; the Rwanda Blockchain Association Chairman, Norbert Haguma; Product Engineer at VIFILABS, Elias Hezron; and Yellow Card Country Manager Lily Ngarambe. The session explored how blockchain is moving beyond hype to deliver practical solutions and impact across Africa. PHOTO | COURTESY
Dar es Salaam. Tanzanian entrepreneurs developing solutions in blockchain, artificial intelligence, financial technology and other emerging technologies are being urged to scale their innovations regionally following the launch of the Africa Blockchain Festival Fellowship Programme 2026.
The fellowship is a core component of the upcoming Africa Blockchain Festival 2026, scheduled for October 15 to 17 at the Sarit Expo Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.
The event will bring together technology founders, venture capital investors, policymakers, financial institutions and corporate leaders from across the continent, creating opportunities for partnerships, investment, knowledge sharing and market access.
A recent press statement released by Africa Blockchain Festival says the fellowship comes at a critical juncture for Tanzania’s rapidly evolving technology and innovation ecosystem.
According to the document, the fellowship will help address the commercialisation gap by allowing selected founders to pitch directly to regional investors and corporate executives.
Venture capital firm Antler has been named the Official Venture Partner for the festival, supporting startup vetting, jury participation and technical workshops.
Launch Africa Ventures will also participate in vetting and judging the pitch competition, giving founders exposure to rigorous investment assessments.
For Tanzanian technology builders, the initiative complements domestic regulatory efforts, including the Bank of Tanzania’s FinTech Regulatory Sandbox, which opened applications for its third cohort in June 2026.
Rather than viewing blockchain solely through cryptocurrency, local developers can explore practical applications in digital payments, supply-chain traceability, digital identity, record-keeping and financial inclusion.
Applications for the programme are open to entrepreneurs across East Africa, including Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, as well as West and Southern Africa.
“The challenge is then moving those ideas beyond experimentation. That requires founders who can demonstrate a genuine problem, a viable business model, regulatory awareness, strong technology and the ability to scale,” reads part of the statement.
Events such as Africa Blockchain Festival can provide Tanzanian entrepreneurs with exposure to regional investors and other founders facing many of the same challenges across Tanzania and beyond.
Fostering African Intellectual Property
Highlighting the broader vision, Africa Blockchain Festival co-founder and chief executive officer Mr Olubunmi Fabanwo said the fellowship aims to turn talent into sustainable enterprises.
“Africa has one of the youngest populations in the world, and that generation is growing up at a time when technology is completely changing what is possible,” Mr Fabanwo said.
“A young person in Nairobi, Kampala, Lagos, Kigali, Accra or Dar es Salaam can build a solution today that potentially reaches millions of people. The challenge is making sure that talent gets the exposure, guidance and access to networks needed to turn those ideas into sustainable companies,” he added.
He said the initiative is structured to deliver practical outcomes for participating innovators, rather than just dialogue.
“We don’t want Africa Blockchain Festival to simply be a place where people spend three days talking about the future of technology,” Mr Fabanwo explained.
“We want founders to come into the festival and meet people who can challenge their thinking, understand their businesses and potentially open doors for the next stage of their journey,” he added.
Addressing the continent’s potential to develop proprietary technology, Mr Fabanwo added that African youth must move beyond consuming foreign software to creating global platforms.
“The next major African technology company could already be sitting on someone’s laptop in Kampala, Nairobi, Lagos or another African city,” he said.
He said what matters is whether countries can create an ecosystem that recognises that talent early enough and allows it to grow.
“We want young Africans to see technology as more than a career where they work for somebody else’s company,” stressed Mr Fabanwo.
“They can build the companies themselves, create intellectual property here, employ people here and develop solutions in Africa that eventually compete globally,” he concluded.
Innovation Week Tanzania 2026
The country recently hosted Innovation Week Tanzania 2026 from August 31 to September 4, 2026, in Dar es Salaam, organised under the theme “From Aspirations to Transformation: Innovating Tanzania’s Path to Inclusive Prosperity.”
Aligned with Tanzania’s Development Vision 2050, the platform highlighted the urgency of moving local technology from prototypes to commercially viable businesses.
Speaking during Innovation Week, the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (Costech) director general, Dr Amos Nungu, said stronger institutional mechanisms are needed to move local innovations from conception to full commercial production.
“Discussions also highlighted the need to link domestic research, intellectual property and technology projects directly with prospective capital providers,” according to the statement.
Planning and Investment Minister Prof Kitila Mkumbo called on the private sector to play a leading role in driving Tanzania’s economic transformation, noting that sustainable scaling requires capital, commercial partnerships and access to viable markets.
