‘I decided to host the first Dar es Salaam meet up because nothing ever happens in Dar.’ These are the words of Nadine Kapya, a member of VC4Africa working to bring entrepreneurs and investors together in Tanzania. We interviewed her to find out more.
Tell us about yourself and your company…what do you do?
‘I am a Tanzanian national who lived abroad most of her life. I came back to Tanzania in 2004 and have been here ever since. I studied hotel Management and Marketing in University. Later in life I began to work in Public Relations of which I started my passion with Public Relations. In 2009, I formed Bizquest Consultancy which started out as giving out information to investors and then in 2010 Bizquest Consultancy began to solely offer Public Relation services which it continues to provide until now. Bizquest Consultancy has worked with over 16 companies of which most of them are international brands.’
Tell us about the state of the public relations industry in Tanzania?
‘Currently there are clients who realize that public relations is important and are now engaging in PR. Unfortunately they do not have big budgets. Marketing departments don’t allocate the needed resources which limits what PR consultants can do for a company. The trends are positive though. Public Relations is slowly turning to social Media PR and I see us becoming more active as an industry like it is in Europe and America.’
How did you first get involved in the VC4Africa community?
‘I got involved with VC4 Africa about 2 and half years ago. I was looking for platforms for entrepreneurs as I was an upcoming entrepreneur myself. ‘
What made you decide to step forward and host a meetup?
‘I decided to host this meet up because nothing ever happens in Dar es Salaam. I know events have been hosted in Nairobi (everything happens in Nairobi) so I decided to start a series of events in Dar es Salaam. I also know that there are a lot of entrepreneurs who do interesting things, unfortunately, they are not known to the rest of the world.’
Who was the most interesting person you met and why?
‘I thought the most interesting person was Sunday Beebwa who came from an organization called KADERES. They give back to the community concentrating on agriculture, but go further and help farmers look for a market to sell their stock. I thought this was fantastic.’
Why are meetings like this important?
‘I believe that meetings like these are important so members get to know each other in person. I learn about the work of other entrepreneurs and these meetings are places where we can explore how we might work together.’
See the photos from the first Dar es Salaam meetup and details for the next event scheduled in Dar es Salaam. Join Nadine and the community in our efforts to do more to support entrepreneurs in the country!