Entrepreneurship

Market immersion opens doors for founders in Tanzania

A group of five Kenyan founders expanded their business scope to Tanzania through a market immersion process of the ENEA program. For five days, they met with ten local businesses, tested their solutions and had conversations on regional expansion. From inventory management applications for SMEs to advertising and communication agencies, the founders curated their services to the market needs.

ENEA is a Swahili word that means spreading out. The program is a seven-month entrepreneurship training responding to the pressing need for market access, cross-border readiness, and entrepreneurial resilience among small businesses often excluded from regional opportunities. Co-created by Friedrich Naumann Foundation Kenya and Westerwelle Startup Haus Mombasa as a targeted initiative to address intra-African trade, the first cohort trained 23 young entrepreneurs on core business skills, regulatory processes, and refining their growth strategies. The program was designed to benefit youth and women founders in the growth-stage of their businesses as this demographic is often underserved and overlooked in mainstream entrepreneurship support.

The impact was immediate. StockApp, a platform that helps small businesses track inventory, sales, and expenses in one place, got real adoption by meeting existing product users who got to share their feedback and referrals as the application eases operations for businesses that would otherwise be managing their data on papers which may be difficult to track and analyze. As an enabler of innovation and inclusivity, the solution takes into account the funding hallenges that small businesses face in their operations through their favourable pricing strategy.

Klenses Images, a boutique creative agency focusing on below-the-line advertising and photography managed to bounce off ideas from fellow creative agencies in Tanzania as well as expand their customer base through linkages. Other ENEA businesses including Zennia Travels, Adfirst Adverts and G-Brand Media expanded their networks and understanding of the market terrain.

Tanzania fit as a good market to expand to due to their digital momentum, proximity and by 2021, 529 Kenyan companies had invested USD 1.7B in the market. Some of the local companies met include Smartcodes, Coastal Holidays, Tanzania Startup Association, Girls Effect, Stanbic Biashara Incubator, and Mazao Hub among others.

The immersion highlighted the importance of cultural and regulatory contexts when expanding to new markets. This encouraged the founders to research and adapt their product and services based on the market of expansion. Moreover, this initiative underscores the importance of targeted support to entrepreneurs for job creation, strengthening local economies, and building sustainable businesses that can grow regionally and globally.

As the founders get back to their businesses, they have a renewed perspective of culture and strategy, expanded network and new business opportunities. Their stories stand as proof that when entrepreneurs are given the chance to learn, connect, and test their solutions in real markets, they shape the future and increase intra-regional trade which makes up 20% of total trade within the East African Community.