Category: The Citizen

Mobile behavior has become dominant in Africa: more than 70% of all betting and gaming activity in the region takes place on smartphones. Although the main features are also available in the web version, the mobile app is becoming the primary way people interact thanks to its speed, convenience, and adaptation to user behavior. As a result, the smartphone has become the main device for interacting with products in the African betting and gaming market.

Today, users expect more from an app than just an attractive interface, as they also want real advantages in how it works. Fast loading, stable performance, and efficient data use are important. At the same time, the app needs to work smoothly across all devices, as the market includes hundreds of millions of users with diverse habits, access conditions, and devices. For some, mobile wallets are especially important; for others, saving mobile data is most important; and for others, quick transitions between screens without delays are key.

AfroPari takes all of these factors into account. The app, developed by the betting company, is designed around real user scenarios and the local context.

The AfroPari app isn’t just a mobile adaptation of the web version, but a standalone product designed to ensure speed, stability, and user convenience.

Stable performance even with a weak internet connection. The application is optimized for unstable connections, which is a key feature for the African market. Minimal lag and a stable connection are critical in Live mode, when every second counts.

Instant login using biometrics. Log in with your fingerprint or Face ID – no passwords or delays. It takes only a few seconds from launching the app to placing a bet!

Data savings. AfroPari is designed to be data-efficient, which is especially important if you’re on a limited plan. The app runs smoothly without eating up your valuable data.

Mobile payment betting tailored for the local market. The payment section has been adapted to accommodate popular payment methods in Africa, including mobile wallets. The process from logging in to the app to making a deposit or withdrawal is as user-friendly as possible and requires the fewest possible steps.

Personalized push notifications. Push notifications are tailored to your behavior: selected events, favorite teams, and preferred betting formats. They help ensure you never miss crucial matches or the latest bonuses.

Exclusive offers available only in the app. Some bonuses and promotional offers are available exclusively in the application, for example, the current App Install Promo.

Bonuses and app install promo

The main advantage of the AfroPari betting app in Africa is the personalized experience. Push notifications are tailored to user behavior, including selected events, teams, and bet types. This helps users not miss important matches and relevant bonuses. Some promos are only available in the app, for example, the current app install promo. To get the bonus, users just need to follow a few simple steps:

Log in or sign up in the app and tap ‘Take Part’ on the bonus page

Place a series of 10 bets in the app starting from $2,19

Within 24 hours, receive a free bet of up to $10,76 as a promo code, based on the average value of your bets

Products that simplify key actions and save users’ time quickly become the main channel of interaction. In betting, this role is increasingly taken by the app. It handles core actions faster and more conveniently than the web version.

Download the AfroPari app and turn every moment into a a chance to win!

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s rising swimming star Lorita Borega is confident of making a strong impression when she competes at the World Aquatics Junior Open Water Swimming Championships in Santa Fe, Argentina.

The championships, scheduled for September 3 (today) to 6, will bring together some of the world’s leading young open-water swimmers, providing Borega with the biggest international test of her developing career.

Borega said she is optimistic about her chances after completing what she described as good preparations for the competition. ‘I have trained well and I feel ready for the competition. I know it will be a tough challenge because I will be competing against swimmers from different countries, but I have confidence in the preparations I have made,’ Borega said.

The North Coast Swimming Club swimmer said she would approach the competition with determination and focus, with her main objective being to produce her best performance and gain valuable experience at the highest level of junior open-water swimming.

The event is another major milestone for Borega, who is becoming increasingly recognised as one of Tanzania’s most promising young swimmers.

Her confidence comes after a breakthrough period in which she has continued to improve against stronger competition. In June, she became the first Tanzanian female swimmer to reach the semi-finals of the Africa Aquatics Zone IV Open Water Swimming Championships in Mauritius.

She then carried Tanzania’s hopes at the ANOCA Zone V Youth Games in Nairobi, where she won bronze in the women’s 14 to 17 100 metres freestyle in 1:11.92, giving the country its only swimming medal at the Games.

Borega said those experiences have strengthened her belief that she can compete against swimmers from outside Africa. ‘I have learnt a lot from the competitions I have taken part in this year. They have given me confidence and helped me understand what is required when competing at a higher level,’ she said.

For Borega, the Argentina championships will also provide an opportunity to measure her progress against a wider pool of international talent. World Aquatics’ entry list includes young swimmers such as Turkey’s Su Inal and Bolivia’s Carolina Quiroga, both entered in the women’s 7.5km event. Borega said she is not intimidated by the quality of the field and instead sees the competition as an opportunity to learn and challenge herself.

‘My target is to give my best, remain focused throughout the race and finish strongly. I want to use this opportunity to gain experience and show what I can do,’ she said.

Her appearance in Santa Fe marks another important step in a journey that has already seen her break new ground for Tanzanian swimming.

Mufindi. Residents of 10 wards in Mufindi District, Iringa Region, say they can now resume normal activities after a stray lion that had killed livestock and caused fear in their communities was shot dead by wildlife authorities.

The lion had been roaming the district since July 18, 2026, raiding residential areas and preying on livestock, according to Mufindi District Council Environment and Natural Resources Officer Aglibert Ngailo.

It was killed in Mwikitila Village, Ifwagi Ward, following efforts by the Government in collaboration with the Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority (Tawa).

The affected wards are Nyololo, Matanana, Mbalamaziwa, Malangali, Maduma, Ihowanza, Ifwagi, Ikongosi, Bumilayunga and Itimbo.

Mr Ngailo said the lion killed 12 cattle, 17 goats and nine pigs during the period it roamed the district.

For residents, the losses affected both household incomes and their sense of security.

Pius Kalinga, a resident of Matanana, said livestock keepers lived with uncertainty because they did not know when their animals would be attacked.

‘Livestock is our livelihood and the main source of income for our families. When you hear that a lion is near your village, you lose peace of mind because every day you wonder if your animals will be safe or become its next meal,’ he said.

He said some livestock keepers took additional precautions when grazing and guarding their animals, particularly in the evening and at night.

Oliva Mgovano, a resident of Mtiri, said the lion’s presence threatened families that depended on livestock to meet basic needs.

‘In this area, livestock is how we earn money to pay for our children’s school fees, buy food and meet other household needs. When we heard the lion was still wandering around killing cattle, goats and pigs, everyone was worried about their property,’ she said.

For Mashaka Fweni, concern about human safety was greater than the loss of livestock.

‘We were terrified, especially when we thought about our children. Children walk to school, play or move around the village, and you never knew where the lion was or when it might appear,’ he said.

He said parents repeatedly warned their children to be cautious and avoid moving alone in areas considered unsafe.

‘It was a double blow-fear for our lives and fear for our economic survival. While worrying about whether your children were safe, you were also worrying about your livestock, which is your livelihood. The killing of the lion has lifted a heavy burden from our shoulders,’ Mr Fweni said.

The residents said the incident had also highlighted the need for communities to remain alert and promptly report cases of wildlife entering human settlements.

Mufindi District Council Chairman Castory Masangula urged residents to return to their normal activities following the killing of the lion.

He said the Government would continue working with wildlife authorities to protect people and property and respond when wild animals enter residential areas.

Residents in the affected wards have since resumed their daily activities after more than six weeks of dealing with the threat posed by the stray lion.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan has criticised the state of cleanliness in Tanzania’s cities, singling out Dar es Salaam as she urged local leaders to take greater responsibility for keeping urban areas clean.

Speaking on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, during the swearing-in ceremony for newly appointed leaders at the Tunguu State Lodge in Zanzibar, President Hassan described the condition of the country’s cities as a ‘disgrace.’

‘Our cities are extremely dirty. A disgrace! Dar es Salaam is dirty,’ she said. She said the city’s cleanliness problems extend beyond its main roads and tourist-facing areas, with litter visible along routes from Julius Nyerere International Airport to the city centre.

She said she had personally noticed plastic waste, bottles and piles of sand along the road during journeys through the city.

‘Cities should not be dirty. As we say we want to grow economically and increase our GDP (gross domestic product), we must also maintain the cleanliness of our country,’ she said.

President Hassan said cleanliness was particularly important as Tanzania seeks to attract more tourists, noting that visitors do not only travel to see wildlife and beaches but also explore cities such as Dar es Salaam.

She questioned the practice of awarding waste collection contracts to councillors who lack the equipment and capacity to provide the service effectively.

‘Give the contracts to those who can do the work, contractors who can clean the cities,’ she said.

The President also questioned why proposals from large companies seeking to invest in waste management, including projects to convert waste into fertiliser or electricity, often stall.

She said authorities sometimes focus on minor disagreements, including tax arrangements and electricity pricing, instead of considering the wider benefits such investments could bring.

President Hassan directed leaders to strengthen supervision of cleanliness in their areas, saying better waste management would help reduce diseases associated with poor sanitation, including cholera.

‘Cleanliness is everything,’ she said.

Furthermore, she cautioned leaders against allowing waste to accumulate in their neighbourhoods, saying urban cleanliness should be treated as a leadership responsibility.

The number of deaths in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ebola outbreak has surpassed 3,000, government data showed on Wednesday, as the country’s worst-ever epidemic continues to spread across its northeast.

The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, became the largest and deadliest in Congo’s history after surpassing the 2018-2020 epidemic.

It is now second only to the 2014-2016 West African outbreak, ?which infected over 28,600 people and killed more than 11,000 across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Government figures showed the death toll had risen to 3,007, while confirmed cases reached 6,186.

The outbreak was formally declared in Ituri province on May 15, though some health officials and experts say it may have started as early as January.

It has since spread to six provinces, despite efforts by Congolese authorities, the World Health Organisation ?and aid groups to contain it.

Health experts say weak surveillance systems, insecurity and community resistance have hampered efforts to identify and treat patients early.

The World Health Organisation estimates that around 60% of deaths happen outside treatment centres, highlighting the ?challenges of detecting cases before patients succumb to the disease.

Bundibugyo has no approved vaccines or treatments, but several vaccines are under development, including candidates from ?the University of Oxford and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI).

Congolese authorities recently began vaccinating frontline health workers with Merck’s Ervebo vaccine, which is ?licensed against the Zaire species of Ebola, and is believed to offer some cross-protection against Bundibugyo.

Tanzanian businesses are being urged to resist the temptation to let artificial intelligence make critical decisions about their customers, as the technology becomes increasingly capable of building products, analysing data and automating routine business tasks.

While AI can dramatically reduce the time and cost of developing digital products, businesses still need people who understand their customers well enough to determine what they actually need, according to Black Swan Chief Technology Officer Mr Harvey Kadyanji.

Speaking during Innovation Week Tanzania 2026, Mr Kadyanji said the rapid development of AI-assisted software was changing the economics of starting and running a business. Entrepreneurs can now move from an idea to a functioning digital product in a fraction of the time previously required, lowering one of the traditional barriers to innovation.

But the ability to build something quickly does not necessarily mean there is a market for it.

‘The problem is that, if you don’t have the capital knowledge, AI is very confident,’ he said.

That confidence, he suggested, could become a problem for businesses that lack the expertise to question an AI-generated recommendation.

Mr Kadyanji identified four areas where AI still faces limitations in business which include taste, which is the human ability to judge whether something feels right for a particular customer or market.

‘You tell it to create something and it clearly just rushes into creating something that it thought matters to you,’ he said.

Other Mr Kadyanji described as tribal knowledge which is the practical understanding of a particular industry that comes from experience.

AI can process large amounts of information, but it does not automatically possess the institutional knowledge of how a particular market operates.

‘For a Tanzanian business, that knowledge may include how customers negotiate prices, how informal distribution networks operate, seasonal purchasing patterns or the practical challenges of dealing with suppliers and regulators,’ he said.

The third issue is knowing what to build, as AI is making product development increasingly accessible, allowing entrepreneurs to create prototypes, websites, applications and analytical tools without large technical teams.

Understanding what customers are willing to pay for requires more than generating a product.

Knowing when the machine is wrong he said can be the biggest risk comes when businesses accept AI-generated information without sufficient scrutiny.

AI systems can produce answers with considerable confidence even when those answers are inaccurate or unsuitable for a particular situation.

The debate comes as Tanzania seeks to strengthen its innovation ecosystem and turn more ideas emerging from universities and young entrepreneurs into businesses capable of creating jobs and contributing to economic growth.

Policy and Partnership Manager at the FCDO East Africa Research and Innovation Hub Ms Njeri Gichuhi said collaboration between universities, government institutions and entrepreneurs was critical to building Tanzania’s innovation ecosystem.

She said universities could increasingly serve as innovation hubs while support should extend beyond major urban centres to reach young people with ideas and potential.

StartHub Africa Co-Founder and Managing Director Shakila Mshana said Tanzania had no shortage of ideas but needed more entrepreneurs capable of executing them effectively.

The same issue was highlighted by Westerwelle Startup Haus Arusha Country Director Isaack Shayo, who said entrepreneurial opportunities were available but success depended on structured planning and strategic execution.

The message is significant in an environment where AI is making the early stages of entrepreneurship easier.

A founder can increasingly use AI to generate a business plan, analyse information, write software, produce marketing material and develop a prototype.

But none of those capabilities guarantees that customers will buy the product.

While many modern societies have traded traditional ecological knowledge for rapid industrialisation, the Maasai people of East Africa remain one of the most culturally resilient communities on the planet.

This comes even amid reports from human rights organisations and Indigenous advocates warning that their traditional pastoral lifestyle and ancestral culture face an unprecedented existential threat, primarily driven by forced displacements, state-led conservation policies, and climate change.

Further, governments argue that human and livestock populations create environmental pressure on vital wildlife and UNESCO World Heritage ecosystems. Conversely, advocates state that displacing pastoralists severs their spiritual and economic reliance on cattle, summarizing the process as “killing culture”

But even so, the Maasai’s ability to withstand the encroaching pressures of climate change and land loss is not a matter of luck, but the result of a “sophisticated system” of living that treats the environment and human existence as a single, inseparable unit.

At the heart of this resilience are three fundamental pillars or “legs” as explained in an exclusive interview by one of the renowned elders, defining the Maasai philosophy of being, belonging, and becoming.

According to an adjunct faculty member at the Arusha Climate and Environmental Research Centre (ACER), Mr Alais Morindat and a respected Maasai elder, the community’s life is balanced on three vital legs.

The first pillar is Natural Resources, encompassing the trees, water, pasture, and the diverse landscapes of the highlands and lowlands.

‘This pillar is viewed as a divine gift, maintained through a deep understanding of the relationship between the sky and the ground,’ he said.

The second pillar is Livestock, the primary livelihood and symbol of wealth that depends entirely on the health of the rangelands.

The third pillar, he said, is Society and Culture, the human element that interprets and manages the other two.

The resilience of the Maasai stems from the absolute interdependency of these pillars. Mr Morindat warns that if the pillar of natural resources collapses due to factors like climate change or land grabbing, the livestock pillar will inevitably fall, leading to the total collapse of Maasai society, history, and culture.

‘Unlike communities that have abandoned their traditional roots, we the Maasai recognise that our survival is tied to the physical land we occupy; to lose the land is to lose the very “mark” that makes us a distinct people,’ he explained.

The sacred bond with the land

A key reason the Maasai believe so fiercely in their specific land-and not “anywhere else”-is their spiritual interpretation of the ecosystem, often described as “God above and God below”.

In this worldview, the sky (God above) is the source of influence, while the ground (God below) is where the divine responds through moisture and rain.

‘This philosophy creates a closed loop of accountability and reverence; we do not see the land as a commodity to be traded, but as the literal manifestation of God’s response to our needs. This spiritual connection fosters a “conserving community” by nature,’ he said.

Director of ACER, Dr Emmanuel Sulle, notes that the Maasai protect trees and natural resources because they know their entire livelihood depends on them. ‘They have even developed scientific methods for cutting trees and managing pastures through oral knowledge passed down through generations,’ he told The Citizen. This, the researcher said, is why mobility was historically their key strategy; ‘if rain failed in one area, they moved to another, always following the “response” of God on the ground.’

Today, however, as borders and land laws restrict movement, their resilience has shifted toward restoration and “staying put” to heal the land they still hold.

Many outsiders have historically viewed the Maasai as “rigid” or “people of the bush” who are difficult to change. However, Mr Morindat insisted, the reality is that they are “intelligent creatures” who use their three-pillar system to survive under “huge constraints” that would break less organised societies.

‘Our resilience is not about refusing to change, but about changing in a way that preserves our core,’ insisted Mr Morindat.

Working with ACER, the Maasai are now bridging the gap between indigenous knowledge and modern science. They are adopting more resilient livestock breeds, such as the Sahiwal, which can thrive in smaller geographical areas while providing higher yields.

Tanzania’s ambition to achieve broad-based socio-economic transformation by 2050 will depend on a stronger digital economy, sustainable media models and the ability of local enterprises to meet quality and compliance standards, leaders have said.

The call was made yesterday during the second day of Innovation Week Tanzania 2026, where policymakers, private-sector executives, media leaders and digital innovators examined the role of the evolving media ecosystem in advancing the Tanzania Development Vision 2050 (Dira 2050).

Speaking during a side symposium titled The New Media Landscape: Creators, Platforms, and the Dira 2050, Deputy Executive Secretary for Trade and Innovation at the National Planning Commission (NPC), Dr Blandina Kilama, urged young entrepreneurs and content creators to focus on building commercially viable enterprises rather than relying heavily on donor support. She said local businesses must also prioritise quality, compliance and accurate information if they are to compete effectively and contribute to the country’s development ambitions.

‘It’s very important to have accurate information for all the different audiences,’ Dr Kilama said, stressing the need for development messages to reach both urban businesses and rural communities.

‘We need to appreciate and support local enterprise, but it really has to have the quality that we want,’ she added.

Dr Kilama said while the government had a responsibility to create an enabling environment for local businesses, enterprises themselves must comply with required standards to build sustainable brands.

The discussions also focused on the sustainability of the media industry as digital platforms increasingly compete with entertainment and other forms of content for audiences.

Mwananchi Communications Limited (MCL) Executive Editor Mpoki Thomson said a strong and financially sustainable media industry was critical to ensuring that Tanzanians understood and participated in the country’s development agenda.

‘A nation with a weak media is a nation bound to fail,’ Mr Thomson said.

He said media organisations must move beyond simply reporting headlines and help citizens understand complex issues such as fiscal policy, the cashless economy, digital transformation and Dira 2050.

Tanzania’s population is projected to exceed 100 million by 2050, while the country’s development targets include a significant increase in per capita income. Mr Thomson said achieving such targets would require citizens to understand how the transformation would affect their everyday lives.

He also called for the creation of regulatory ‘sandboxes’ where digital innovators can test new business models before being subjected to rigid regulatory requirements.

‘The environment moves way faster than the policy,’ he said, urging policymakers to ensure regulations keep pace with technological developments.

Mr Thomson also stressed the importance of press freedom and freedom of expression, arguing that a credible and independent media sector was essential for attracting investment and strengthening the country’s international standing.

Meanwhile, Vodacom Tanzania Head of Brand and Communications Yvonne Maruma said the creator economy was increasingly changing how Tanzanians communicate, consume information and participate in economic activity.

She said platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and podcasts were shifting communication from traditional top-down institutional messaging towards more participatory and community-driven engagement.

‘Development cannot only be something we discuss in policy documents, in conferences, or in boardrooms. We, the Tanzanians, should be the voices creating these stories,’ Ms Maruma said.

She said connectivity should not be viewed merely as access to the internet, but as an enabler of businesses, skills development and local storytelling.

At the same event, UNDP Communications and Partnership Analyst Sawiche Wamunza urged young creators to take ownership of the narrative surrounding Dira 2050.

She said the vision could only achieve its intended impact if it was translated into messages that ordinary Tanzanians could understand and relate to.

‘Use your unique creative voices to explain Dira 2050 to your audiences, because everybody has an audience,’ Ms Wamunza said.

She noted that young people would be among the main custodians and beneficiaries of the outcomes targeted under the 2050 vision.

Managing Director of Mbeya Highland FM Jacqueline Mwakyambiki said communication was essential to ensuring that national development plans did not leave citizens behind.

‘Innovation is the engine of Dira 2050, but communication is the road,’ Ms Mwakyambiki said.

She said the vision needed to have practical meaning for citizens, citing farmers as an example.

‘For a farmer in Mbeya, Vision 2050 must mean guaranteed market access for their crops,’ she said.

Ms Mwakyambiki said her station had adjusted its programming to focus more on grassroots concerns, including access to water, instead of concentrating mainly on advertisements for luxury products.

The symposium also highlighted challenges facing local digital creators, particularly around monetisation and participation in corporate decision-making.

Citizen Voice Amplification Officer at JamiiAfrica Charles Maganga called for stronger partnerships with global technology companies such as Google and Meta to develop monetisation mechanisms suited to Swahili-language content.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer of WE MEDIA TZ Winnie Nzunda, meanwhile, urged brands to involve creators in their communication strategies from the beginning rather than using them merely as distribution channels.

‘Creators should stop being used merely as digital billboards,’ Ms Nzunda said.

More recently, his research has taken a digital turn, towards Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies and the ways people in the Global South are using them to navigate economies where conventional financial systems can be uncertain or inaccessible.

The subjects may appear unrelated but for Dr Ntapanta, they are connected by a broader question of how people adapt, improvise and create value when formal systems fail to meet their needs.

“What I want is for the people who are already doing this work, the scrap dealers, the repairers, the collectors, to stop being treated as a problem the state hasn’t solved yet, and start being recognised as the important infrastructure that keeps cities going,’ said Dr Ntapanta in an interview.

‘That’s true whether I’m talking about e-waste in Dar es Salaam or cryptocurrencies in Nairobi, informality isn’t the absence of a system, it is the system, and it deserves to be studied and legislated for, on those terms.”

Born in Tanzania’s Tabora Region in 1985, Dr Ntapanta’s academic journey began far from the universities and research centres where he would later work.

At Milambo Secondary School, he studied English, Kiswahili and French before moving to Sumba High School, where he studied history and geography.

He later joined the University of Dar es Salaam, graduating in 2009 with a degree in Political Science and Sociology.

But his formative education, he has said, came as much from working with communities as it did from university lecture halls.

Interest in environment

Immediately after university, Dr Ntapanta entered the environmental sector which placed him at the intersection of environmental research and journalism, working with media organisations and journalists across Tanzania to translate scientific research, including studies on climate change and marine ecosystems, into information that could be understood and used by the wider public.

In 2012, he joined ActionAid Middle East and North Africa in Egypt, where he trained young activists in Al-Fayoum in advocacy and campaigning at a time when the region was still grappling with the political upheavals and expectations unleashed by the Arab Spring.

A year later, he returned to Tanzania and continued training activists and organisers in governance and campaigning strategies.

The experience gave him something that would later prove central to his anthropological research: an interest in how ordinary people organise themselves, negotiate institutions and find ways of responding to systems that shape their lives.

By 2015, Dr Ntapanta had moved deeper into academia.

He earned a Master’s degree in Human Security from Aarhus University in Denmark and, in 2018, began a PhD in Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo, Norway.

It was during his doctoral studies that he began examining one of the world’s less visible consequences of technological progress: electronic waste.

The people behind the junk

His doctoral research, titled Gathering the African Technosphere: An Ethnography of Informal Electronic Waste Recycling in Tanzania, took him into the world of informal e-waste recycling in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar.

Rather than treating discarded electronics simply as an environmental hazard, he examined the people whose livelihoods depend on them.

For workers involved in collecting, dismantling and recycling electronic equipment, what appears to be worthless junk can represent income, opportunity and an intricate set of skills.

At the same time, those livelihoods can expose workers and communities to hazardous substances contained in electronic waste.

That tension between economic opportunity and environmental and health risks became central to his research.

His research offers a different way of looking at the technology economy. Instead of focusing only on the companies that manufacture devices or the consumers who buy them, Dr Ntapanta follows the workers who inherit the consequences once those devices are no longer wanted.

After completing his PhD in 2022, Dr Ntapanta spent two years as a Senior Research Associate at the University of Bayreuth in Germany. In February 2024, he returned to Aarhus University for a postdoctoral fellowship examining The Social Life of Cryptocurrencies in the Global South.

The project explored how people in Kenya, Cuba and the Philippines are using Bitcoin and other digital currencies amid economic uncertainty and limitations within formal financial systems.

For Dr Ntapanta, the interest lies not simply in the technology itself but in what people do with it.

That perspective connects his cryptocurrency research to his earlier work on e-waste.

Dr Ntapanta’s next act is already taking shape. He is preparing for a project about the ‘right to repair,’ comparing the European Union’s push for repairable electronics with Tanzania’s thriving informal repair economy, and closing the loop by examining China, where most of those devices are designed and built in the first place.

Tanzania’s energy sector is entering a new phase, shaped by rising demand, global price volatility and a growing push towards cleaner and more affordable sources of energy.

At the centre of this transformation is Puma Energy Tanzania, which has maintained a market share of more than 15 percent and has been recognised by the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA) as the country’s leading fuel player for four consecutive years.

Behind that record stands Madam Fatma M. Abdallah, Managing Director of Puma Energy Tanzania, a senior executive with more than two decades of leadership experience across the energy, banking, logistics and manufacturing sectors in Africa and the Middle East.

Before her current role, Fatma served as Advisor to the Head of Africa at Puma Energy International in Geneva, Switzerland, where she supported strategic initiatives across the company’s African business.

Under her leadership, Puma has expanded well beyond its core role as a fuel retailer. The company has invested in natural gas, cooking gas and, in February this year, launched Africa’s largest compressed natural gas mother station, an investment that signaled strong confidence in Tanzania’s economic future and in the government’s push toward cleaner energy.

From its growing retail footprint to its investment in compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and planned electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, Puma is positioning itself beyond its traditional role as a petroleum company.

In this exclusive interview, The Citizen Managing Editor, Mpoki Thompson, sits down with Madam Fatma M. Abdallah, Managing Director of Puma Energy Tanzania, to discuss the company’s market leadership, its bet on locally available natural gas, and efforts to build local capacity while preparing for Tanzania’s evolving energy future. Excerpts………..

QUESTION: EWURA has ranked Puma Energy as Tanzania’s leading player for four consecutive years. What does this recognition mean to you personally and how does Puma Energy sustain this position?

ANSWER: This recognition is a proud achievement for Puma Energy and reflects our consistent commitment to excellence. Our sustained leadership has been built on customer trust, operational excellence, uncompromising safety standards, and reliability.

At the heart of this success is a strong and dedicated team that works every day to meet our customers’ expectations. Our customers remain at the centre of everything we do; we continuously listen, innovate, and improve our products and services in response to their evolving needs.

Ultimately, our leadership position is not defined by recognition alone, but by the trust we have earned and the value we continue to deliver to our customers and to Tanzania.

With over 15 percent market share, what defines your leadership for the common Tanzanian?

It is a combination of scale, reliability and extreme customer centricity. We operate more than 100 retail stations across Tanzania, offering a diversified portfolio of energy solutions to serve customers with varying requirements, from lubricants and cooking gas known as PUMAGAS, to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for vehicles and industries, to retail shop outlets ‘Shop Express’.

Puma Energy Tanzania Managing Director Ms Fatma Abdallah.

To set ourselves apart, we recently launched ‘Puma Pris,’ a unique loyalty programme. Customers earn points on any product purchase and redeem them for free fuel, convenience store items or quick-service restaurant (QSR) products across our network.

What does Puma Energy TZ do to maintain this stronghold?

Customer needs and expectations continue to evolve, and we make it a priority to listen and respond. We have QR codes across our sites that allow customers to provide direct feedback on their experience.

This feedback is analysed through our monthly Net Promoter Score (NPS) reports, with particular attention given to detractors so that we can identify gaps, address concerns and continuously improve our service.

At the same time, we continuously train and develop our teams to ensure a consistent and seamless customer experience across our retail stations, convenience stores and quick-service restaurants (QSRs).

Our objective is simple: every customer should receive the same high standard of service whenever and wherever they interact with Puma Energy. Leadership is often measured by an organisation’s results.

Looking at Puma’s performance and this four-year recognition, what leadership lesson have you personally learned about building and sustaining a high-performing team?

Sustainable success does not come from one leader alone. It is built by people, institutional culture, accountability and consistency. Here at Puma Energy Tanzania, more than 99 percent of our staff are Tanzanian, and we invest heavily in safety, integrity, customer service and teamwork.

When I look back at these four years, what stands out to me is not the achievement of one individual, but the collective effort of every person at Puma.

In February, Puma Energy TZ commissioned the largest capacity CNG mother station in Africa. What made Tanzania the ideal market for this facility?

Tanzania has massive natural gas reserves, and we are currently the only country in Puma’s African network with CNG facilities. This project was a concept we deliberated on for three to four years, analysing the economics and investment costs.

We wanted to align with the government’s clean energy transition and utilise our abundant local natural gas to shield Tanzanians from foreign exchange risks and global fossil fuel price volatility.

While imported fossil fuel prices fluctuate constantly, local gas prices regulated by PURA and EWURA remain highly stable year-round. Transitioning can be slow.

Are Tanzanians embracing CNG, and is it commercially viable?

Our investment in CNG has been significant. In Phase I, we developed a major mother station, two retail CNG stations and one daughter station.

At present, utilisation remains below 20 percent, largely because CNG infrastructure has expanded faster than market demand and vehicle conversion. One of the challenges has been the misconception that converting a vehicle to CNG reduces its power and performance.

This is not necessarily the case when the correct conversion kits are used and the installation is carried out by trained technicians at certified conversion centres, such as the facility at our mother station. However, we are beginning to see positive momentum.

The Government’s recent fiscal measures, including tax relief on CNG-related equipment, are helping to reduce the cost of conversion and make CNG more accessible to motorists. More importantly, the economics are increasingly compelling.

Ride-hailing and commercial drivers, including Bolt and Bajaji operators, are reporting significant reductions in their fuel costs, enabling them to travel more kilometres at a much lower operating cost compared with conventional fuels. As awareness increases and conversion becomes more affordable, we expect CNG adoption and utilisation to grow significantly.

How does Puma Energy TZ balance being a global brand with local nuances?

While we operate to global standards, our solutions are firmly shaped by the needs and expectations of the local market. We combine international expertise and best practices with a strong understanding of our customers to deliver products and services that are relevant, practical and responsive to the needs of Tanzanian consumers and businesses.

Critics often accuse multinationals of failing to build local capacity. What is Puma Energy TZ’s approach to job creation and local talent?

At Puma Energy Tanzania, every employee except one is Tanzanian. We invest heavily in training our direct staff and our dealers’ station attendants.

When we expand, like opening our 100th station in Tabora, we recruit exclusively from the local community. Additionally, 99 per cent to 100 per cent of our vendors and contractors are local Tanzanian businesses.

What other energy avenues are you exploring, and what does the future hold?

Fossil fuels will remain essential for years, but we are committed to meeting our ESG goals. This includes expanding ‘Puma Gas’, our LPG clean cooking solution launched in 2022, to more regions.

We are also actively exploring Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations across our network, with plans to roll them out in the coming months.

Our long-term goal is to double our retail network from the current 100-plus stations, expanding deeply into underserved rural areas where mobility is rising.

In five years, we want Tanzanians to judge our success not by our infrastructure or financial returns, but by our tangible contribution to individual lives, job creation and sustainable energy access.