Rostam Aziz proposes $100 million youth talent fund

Key Points

• Tanzania’s first dollar billionaire urges a government-backed annual fund to train 1,000 high-potential youth in key technical fields.
• Aziz wants students trained abroad under a bond system and urges strengthening local universities to meet international standards.
• Aziz’s Taifa Gas is building a $1.9 billion LPG facility in Kenya, intensifying competition in East Africa’s cooking gas market.

Tanzania’s first dollar billionaire, Rostam Aziz, has called on the government to invest deliberately and consistently in young people, saying this is key to unlocking the country’s long-term growth. He proposed the creation of a $100 million annual fund focused on talent development, targeting high-potential youth across various strategic fields.

Speaking in Dodoma at the launch of the new National Development Vision 2050, Aziz, said Tanzania must prioritize human capital if it hopes to compete globally in the 21st century. His recommendation centers on identifying and nurturing around 1,000 talented young Tanzanians in fields such as engineering, artificial intelligence, data science, and finance.

Building local capacity through education reform

According to Aziz, the program would provide these individuals with world-class training at top universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. “After completing their studies, they will return and serve in key government institutions, including the Planning Commission, based on contracts signed under a bond system,” he said.

But Aziz emphasized that efforts shouldn’t end there. “We cannot simply wait for those studying abroad to return,” he added. “We must strengthen our own universities to a level where they can produce professionals who meet global standards. This is within our reach.”

He also called for Tanzania’s embassies to take on an active role in identifying and reconnecting with Tanzanians in the diaspora—those studying or working in critical sectors—so they can be part of the country’s transformation journey. Aziz said such individuals represent a valuable resource that the country cannot afford to overlook.

Rostam Aziz expands billion-dollar empire

Over the years, Rostam Aziz has been a prominent voice in East Africa’s business landscape. In 2013, Forbes named him Tanzania’s first dollar billionaire. Through his Taifa Group holding company, he has built a wide-ranging business empire that spans telecommunications, mining, real estate, aviation, energy, solar power, manufacturing, logistics, and agriculture.

More recently, in December 2023, Aziz expanded into Kenya with the launch of a large-scale cooking gas facility in Mombasa. Valued at Ksh300 billion ($1.9 billion), the project is located within the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone and represents a major step in Taifa Gas’s plans to grow beyond Tanzania and deepen its footprint across East Africa.

Once completed, the facility is expected to use advanced technology to reduce the cost of cooking gas for Kenyan households. It also positions Aziz in direct competition with veteran Mombasa industrialist Mohamed Jaffer, whose company, Africa Gas and Oil Ltd., currently dominates Kenya’s LPG import market.