Westerwelle Foundation and Obuntu Hub are partnering up to build the largest startup hub in Arusha, Tanzania, with the ambitious goal of uplifting Tanzanian entrepreneurship and the economy as a whole. The new hub will open in Q2 2022 and offer co-working spaces, events, more support programmes, and access to service providers.
Entrepreneurs as Engines for Economic Growth
The driving partners of the initiative, Westerwelle Foundation and Obuntu Hub, believe that supporting young entrepreneurs has the potential to create a ripple effect of positive impact in the economy through job creation and provision of services.
“We have seen the positive impact of entrepreneurship not only in economies in Africa but around the world. We want to support realizing this potential in Tanzania”, says Westerwelle Foundation managing director Oliver Reisner.
According to the World Bank small businesses represent more than 50% of jobs worldwide, and these numbers are even higher in emerging markets. To enable the positive impact of startup businesses, a multitude of supportive factors are needed: business services, education, funding, and a culture of support. This is what Westerwelle Foundation and Obuntu Hub are set to strengthen through the new hub and its support services.
Strong Local Roots & Community
Obuntu Hub is the local partner leading the building of the new Westerwelle Startup Haus Arusha. Looking at the activities of the Obuntu Hub gives a good idea of the culture of entrepreneurship in Arusha. Keywords that come to mind: collaborative, young, and value-driven.
Led by the development of Silicon Dar in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s startup ecosystem has seen strong growth in recent years. The country’s innovation ecosystem is now ranked 5th in Sub-Saharan Africa by the Global Innovation Index (2021), the GDP has seen a strong average yearly growth rate of 6.5% during the past 10 years (World Bank, 2021), and the number of startup hubs has increased from 2 in the early 2010s to more than 40 in 2021.
This more conducive environment with more hubs and support programmes is now driving entrepreneurship growth across the country, with Arusha emerging as another leading region. As the capital city of the East African Community and the gateway to Tanzania’s tourism sector, Arusha has a history of being a melting pot for cultures, fulfilling the role of being a totem for peace. The cultural diversity, a unique combination of sectors (agriculture, tourism and manufacturing), experience with international negotiations and trade, and strong collaborative spirit of the Arusha entrepreneurial community have laid a fertile ground for young companies to start growing. This article from Collins Kimaro, one of the founders of Obuntu Hub, sheds more light on the recent developments of the Arusha ecosystem.
The common understanding in Tanzania is that there is enough work for everyone to reach the shared goal of uplifting Tanzania’s entrepreneurs and economy, where primary production still makes up a large percentage of the GDP. Collins Kimaro is one of the people striving for collaboration: “We believe strongly in partnerships true to the concept of obuntu, which we define to mean collective progress. We are grateful to our funding partners (United States African Development Foundation, Tanzania’s Commission of Science and Technology, USAID and UKAID), our brilliant technical partners and our amazing community – let’s grow together.”
International Supporter
Westerwelle Foundation is a German non-profit organization with a mission to support empowered entrepreneurship in emerging
markets. In addition to building up a new hub in Arusha, the Westerwelle Foundation has hubs in Kigali and Tunis, as well as an online programme welcoming entrepreneurs from Asia, Latin America and Africa.
The foundation was set up by well-respected politician, former German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guido Westerwelle and successful German entrepreneur Ralph Dommermuth. Westerwelle often talked about Africa being “the continent of chances”. Since 2013 the foundation has grown to support hundreds of founders in emerging markets every year.
With the opening of Westerwelle Startup Haus Arusha, the foundation will have a stronger Pan African network of support. “We connect our local members to an international community that
offers chances for networking, partnerships, peer learning, and expansion to new markets”, explains Oliver Reisner.
An additional opportunity for international networking is the Westerwelle Young Founders Programme that selects 25 startups that are ready for funding and international expansion and offers them 6-months of targeted mentorship and trainings, as well as the chance for top 10 performers to attend a fully-funded conference in Berlin, Germany. The programme is open for applications for the Spring 2022 cohort until March 13th 2022. More information can be found here.
Next Steps
What Tanzanian entrepreneurs can expect during 2022 is first the construction and then opening of the new hub. During the last weeks core members of the community have already had the chance to see the first design drafts of the space and share thoughts and feedback.
Another change to expect during the upcoming months is new support programmes. Until now, Obuntu Hub has run a variety of programmes, such as the DigiTrade programme which aims to democratise digital technology to agribusinesses, funded by the U.S. Embassy Dar es Salaam. With the opening of Westerwelle Startup Haus Arusha, the programme will be accompanied by new ones to support other categories of entrepreneurs and include more international networking with entrepreneurs in other hubs of the Westerwelle Foundation network.
If you would like to be involved with the activities of the new Westerwelle Startup Haus Arusha or the Westerwelle Foundation international network, you can find more information and all contact details on their website and social media channels.