BIC Africa hosted the second and final edition of the Boot Camps for Tanzanian business incubators in Dar es Salaam on the 2nd and 3rd of June 2026. The programme brought together 19 participants, including 15 business support organisations and networks and representatives from the Tanzania Hubs Network Association, GIZ, and ENABEL. The boot camp is organised by the BIC Africa Project funded by the European Union and implemented by the EBN.
Building on the first Boot Camp held in Zanzibar, this edition was designed to further strengthen the capacity of Tanzanian ESOs and support an already advancing innovation ecosystem. The programme fostered collaboration, encouraged the exchange of expertise, and promoted joint initiatives aimed at enhancing the quality of business support provided to entrepreneurs and startups across Tanzania.
Over two days, participants engaged in well‑curated, interactive, and highly practical sessions co‑designed and delivered by experts from the EU|BIC community. The training focused on four core themes: Business Mentoring, Working with Corporates, Deals and Financing for Incubator Clients, and Monitoring, Evaluation and Benchmarking, including impact measurement.
The Boot Camp opened with welcoming remarks by Lamine Diallo from the Delegation of the European Union to the United Republic of Tanzania and Robert Sanders, BIC Africa project Team Leader. Day one covered Business Mentoring, Designing a Mentoring Programme, Working Successfully with Corporates, Developing Assets for Corporate Engagement, and Deals and Financing for Incubator Clients.
I had two incredible days at the BIC Africa Second Bootcamp right here in Dar es Salaam!
Mercy Thomas Ndunguru, East Africa Operations Lead, MTI Investment
This experience was a powerful opportunity for growth and reflection, specifically focusing on how we can elevate our impact at MTI Investment“
Day two began with a recap of the previous sessions, followed by a deep‑dive led by Laura Lecci, CEO of EBN online, on Monitoring, Evaluation and Benchmarking. She shared insights on the EU|BIC certification, the development and delivery of high‑quality business support programmes, facilitation of project collaborations, global networking, and advocacy for excellence among business support organisations – where she also addresses some questions. Participants then took part in a practical exercise on effective data collection, defining KPIs, monitoring performance, assessing incubator quality, and benchmarking against other actors in the ecosystem.
Honoured to represent Smart Lab at the BIC Africa 2-Day Boot Camp in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Beyond the learning sessions, the boot camp fostered meaningful collaboration among ecosystem builders committed to strengthening innovation and enterprise development across the region.
Fatma Mkota, Incubation Manager, Smart Lab
My sincere appreciation to BIC Africa, EBN – European Business & Innovation Centre Network, Inês Guedes Paul Fairburn Laura Lecci and fellow participants for creating such an engaging and impactful learning experience. The insights gained will contribute significantly to enhancing the support we provide to startups, innovators, and entrepreneurs through Smart Lab.“
Across the two days, participants explored new knowledge, skills, and perspectives on best practices in incubator management. The sessions featured group work, presentations, and hands‑on exercises designed to refine their concepts and strengthen their operational approaches. The Boot Camp also created valuable networking opportunities, enabling participants to benchmark their organisations and ecosystems, exchange experiences, and build meaningful synergies. These connections will help foster stronger partnerships, improve coordination, and enhance the overall impact of business incubators across the country to support innovation, entrepreneurs, startups and small business.
The Boot Camp was facilitated by Paul Fairburn (UK) and Inês Guedes from EurA (Portugal), both experts from EU|BIC community. Their contributions played a key role in strengthening local business support organisations and advancing Tanzania’s entrepreneurship and startup ecosystem.
Working with the EBN BIC Africa Team to deliver the recent Boot Camp was hugely rewarding from beginning to end – through the early planning stages, and content development, to delivery in Tanzania. The support and direction provided by Krisztina (Dax), Dawit (Dagnew), Laura (Lecci), and Robert (Sanders) was excellent, and it was an absolute pleasure to work with Inês (Guedes). The Tanzania delegates were engaged throughout the process – working through the exercises, asking searching questions, and were clearly keen to apply the learning back in their own organisations. A fantastic experience all round! “
Paul Fairburn Lead Trainer
In addition, our Team Leader Robert Sanders and Project Manager Krisztina Dax joined the Tanzania Impact Investment Forum 2026 on 1 June 2026. This high‑level platform, organised by the Embassy of Switzerland in Tanzania, convened investors, SMEs, policymakers, development partners, and ecosystem enablers to explore Tanzania’s most promising impact investment opportunities. Participating in the forum enabled us to learn from ongoing initiatives, gain insights that support ecosystem development, and help build bridges between Tanzanian and European innovation communities. It also reinforced our commitment to advancing impact investing and inclusive private‑sector development by supporting initiatives that strengthen SMEs, catalyse private capital, and promote sustainable innovation.
We extend our sincere appreciation to all participants for their commitment, and to the expert facilitators, Lamine Diallo from the Delegation of the European Union to the United Republic of Tanzania and the East African Community, Kiko Kiwanga from THN, Juliana Kayombo from GIZ Tanzania and EAC, and Kenneth Njihia from Sote Hub or their essential support in making the Boot Camp a success.
We look forward to continuing our collaboration with key ecosystem partners and players in Tanzania as we engage in future initiatives.
