Tanzania is expanding efforts to train high-performing students in countries with advanced scientific and technological systems while strengthening science education at home, in a strategy aimed at building the expertise needed to drive innovation and economic development.
The approach combines overseas scholarships with expanded training in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programmes at local universities, with the government seeking to equip young Tanzanians with skills that can strengthen the country’s technological capabilities.
The latest group comprises 10 students who left for Russia on October 5 under the Samia Scholarship Extended programme to study at RUDN University.
They will pursue fields including data science, artificial intelligence (AI) and other modern scientific disciplines, adding to a growing number of Tanzanian students receiving specialised training abroad.
The group follows 16 students who enrolled at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa and 34 who secured places at universities in Ireland, bringing the number of beneficiaries under the overseas component of the programme to 60.
Tanzania has also secured 150 scholarship opportunities in Algeria, while hundreds of other students are being sponsored to pursue STEM programmes at local universities.
The initiatives reflect a two-pronged strategy: exposing selected students to established international research and technology ecosystems while expanding the domestic pool of science and technology graduates.
Education, Science and Technology Minister Prof Adolf Mkenda said the students selected to study in Russia had demonstrated strong academic performance and potential.
‘We are taking the best so that we can get the best,’ Prof Mkenda said during a farewell ceremony in Dar es Salaam.
He said the government was investing in young people with strong academic abilities so they could acquire modern scientific and technological skills and eventually contribute to national development.
The emphasis on artificial intelligence comes as countries worldwide compete to develop technological capabilities and reduce dependence on externally developed systems.
Science communication expert and Sokoine University of Agriculture lecturer and researcher Dr Philbert Nyinondi said Tanzania needed to accelerate efforts to prepare specialists capable of understanding, developing, evaluating and regulating AI technologies.
He called for a coordinated national response involving government ministries, regulators, universities, the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (Costech) and the private sector.
‘We need experts who understand these systems, can assess them and advise the government before major decisions are made,’ Dr Nyinondi said.
Without sufficient local expertise, he warned, Tanzania could become increasingly dependent on AI systems developed and controlled elsewhere, particularly as the technology becomes more widely used in government, banking, healthcare, education and communications.
The objective, he said, should be to move beyond consuming imported technologies towards developing, testing and governing systems that respond to Tanzania’s needs.
Against this backdrop, overseas education could play an important role in transferring knowledge and expertise to local institutions.
Russia, for instance, has a long history of scientific and technological development, including achievements in space exploration. Prof Mkenda cited Yuri Gagarin, the first human to travel into space, as an example of the scientific tradition from which Tanzanian students could learn.
The scholarship recipients also acknowledge the responsibility that comes with the opportunity.
Allen Maseke, a Form Six graduate from Kibaha Secondary School, said his selection demonstrated that a student’s background should not determine their prospects.
‘The environment we come from or the families we come from should not be barriers to achieving our goals,’ he said.
He pledged that the students would return with expertise in data science, AI and other technologies to help address challenges facing Tanzania.
China offers an example of how international education can contribute to national development when supported by opportunities at home. Millions of Chinese citizens have studied abroad, with many returning to contribute to the country’s economy, research and technology sectors.
Education expert Dr Musa Acholla said Tanzania could draw lessons from such experiences, particularly the importance of linking overseas training to domestic development priorities.
The value of sending students abroad, he suggested, ultimately depends on how effectively their knowledge is applied after they return.
‘I have no doubt that the future is bright for this country,’ he said.