Twende Social Innovation Center

Transform Ideas into Impact: Jamii Tech Incubation for Tanzanian Students!

Ready to innovate? Join the Jamii Tech Program 2026 and turn your ideas into real solutions with guidance from experts. Learn design, collaborate, and connect deeply with your community.

Who is this for?
Young innovators aged 18–35
University graduates in engineering and social fields

Program Timeline:
Duration: August to September 2026
Application Deadline: June 30, 2026

Don’t miss out on the chance to accelerate your social innovation journey with Twende Social Innovation Center

Ready to apply? Link: https://forms.gle/muz7bLYwAjCmzZ8c6

Last week, Epifania and Witness had the incredible opportunity to attend Global Innovation Gathering Week and re:publica and came back energized, inspired, and more committed than ever to the work we do at Twende.

They had the chance to share Twende's story, connect with changemakers from across the global, and this remind us why community-driven innovation matters so deeply.

At re:publica, they facilitated a hands-on workshop titled "Let's Build a Smart Safety Alert Device" guiding attendees through the process of creating a low-cost, accessible safety device designed to help women stay safer in real time. Watching people build something meaningful with their own hands? That's exactly the kind of moment that fuels us.

A heartfelt thank you to GIZ Tanzania and for the opportunity and for believing in the power of grassroots innovation. Your support makes spaces like this possible.

Safety, dignity, and access to technology shouldn't be privileges, they should be a baseline. When we build together, inclusively and intentionally, we build futures where everyone belongs.

A proud moment for the Twende community 🏆

Earlier this month, the Twende team attended the 12th HARAMBEE Start-Up Evening in Arusha where Twende alumni Awadhi Massomo and the .tz team were voted the winners of the night!

Through Kikapu, the team is building practical solutions that connect farmers to markets while creating value from agricultural waste. Awadhi’s Cocopeat Machine helps process coconut husks into cocopeat and fibre products that can improve soil health and support more sustainable farming practices.

Seeing innovators take ideas developed through Ideate Arusha and continue growing them into community-driven businesses is exactly why programmes like this matter.

Congratulations to the kikapu team, and thank you to and Embassy of the Netherlands in Tanzania for continuing to support Tanzania’s growing innovation ecosystem.

Most education systems aren’t built for everyone.

For visually impaired learners, access is still limited and that’s a problem Philbert Shio chose to solve.

Through IREN, he’s building assistive tools that make learning accessible from early childhood to university. With support from Twende, he refined his idea into a market-ready solution and is now manufacturing through Porto Limited.

This is what happens when the right idea meets the right environment.
If you’re still thinking about joining Twende, you’re delaying your own growth.
Start building.

A lot of ideas never go anywhere.

Not because they’re bad, but because there’s no space, tools, or support to build them.

So they stay ideas.

At Twende, we’re changing that.

What started as a space to learn and build has grown into:
214+ innovations
6,528 jobs
215,000+ people reached

Behind every number is something real tools people use, businesses growing, and ideas that didn’t stop halfway.

You can see some of that in these photos.

And it’s still open.

If you’ve been thinking about building something this might be your sign.

Ideas don’t fail they’re just never given the space to grow.

Across schools and communities, young people are full of ideas
solutions to real problems they see everyday
but lack the tools, guidance, and environment to bring them to life.

That’s where Twende Innovation Clubs come in.
A space where curiosity turns into creation,
and ideas become real projects that solve real challenges.

Now it’s not just about thinking it’s about building.

Maybe you’ve been waiting for a place like this.
Join Twende Innovation Clubs. Build. Lead. Create impact.

Back in 2014, Alfred Chengula co-founded Imara Tech right here at Twende!

Fast forward to today:
- 383 machines sold in 2025
- 260 agro-processing businesses started
- 11,000 farms reached
- 1.5 million hours of labour saved
- Now exporting to DRC and Rwanda

And now… a brand new workspace in Nane Nane, Njiro, Arusha

This is what it looks like when local innovation keeps growing, turning ideas into real businesses, and real businesses into impact at scale.

We spent the day with children at building working flashlights from recycled plastic bottles, wires and LED lights.

A hands-on session testing ideas, working through challenges, and building something functional from simple materials.

It’s a simple setup, but it reflects something bigger.

Access to practical, applied learning is still uneven, particularly for those outside formal education pathways. Yet this is often where confidence starts - learning by doing, and realising you can create something yourself.

We started this partnership with Kafika House because innovation doesn’t start in labs. It starts with access, tools, and the space to try.

At Twende, we believe innovation belongs to everyone.