How Leadership Development Drives Business Success in Tanzania

It is often said that successful leadership can positively take a firm/organization to its peak. In Tanzania, like in any other country, effective leadership development is crucial for business success. 

Effective leadership development brings about employee engagement, innovation, and strategic decision-making, leading to increased profitability and long-term organizational growth.

Effective leadership is crucial for any business aiming for long-term success and stability. The importance of leadership skills is more than just a popular concept; it is a critical strategy that influences a company’s direction, values, and achievements.

In this article, we will examine the benefits, lasting impacts, real-life cases, and practical approaches to developing skilled leaders who can drive business success in Tanzania.

How Leadership Development Drives Business Success in Tanzania: Case Studies

1. DR. NATU EL-MAAMRY MWAMBA

Dr. Natu was a faculty member at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) and had served on BOT’s (Board Of Directors of The Bank Of Tanzania) board on the monetary policy and audit committees for seven years. 

While excellently delivering on her role as a faculty member and a member on the board, in 2011, the board of directors of the Bank of Tanzania decided and agreed on the need to achieve gender diversity at the deputy governor level, particularly since other African central banks had already elevated capable women.

Having served on BOT’s board on the monetary policy and audit committees for seven years, it was agreed that Dr. Natu El-Maamry Mwamba was well qualified for the role. Following this agreement, President Jakaya M. Kikwete appointed Natu as BOT’s first female Deputy Governor, overseeing the Economic and Financial Policies portfolio. Throughout her time at the bank, she vigorously promoted women’s career advancement, as she identified high-performing female staff; developed a portfolio that showcased their expertise, skills, and performance; and presented them as candidates for promotion. 

By the time Natu completed her tenure at BOT in 2017, one-third of its management positions were occupied by women, and the growth has been immense.

2. RUTH ZAIPUNA

Ruth Zaipuna became the first Tanzanian and second woman CEO of NMB Bank, one of Tanzania’s largest banks, two years after she was recruited as NMB’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Over the last two decades, she cultivated deep technical and strategic skills, and as CFO, these skills, plus her ability to lead, garnered the attention of NMB’s board members, who promoted Ruth to CEO.

Not long after she started working at NMB Bank as CFO in 2018, she leveraged her prior experience to begin transforming the finance department from its traditional role as the custodian of assets into a strategic business partner. 

The new strategy enabled the finance department to work closely with the bank’s other departments and begin identifying revenue and expenditure trends, and developing cost-efficiency strategies for each department. 

The finance department used the insights it had gathered to help the bank’s business functions, devise growth strategies. Of course, it changed the performance and cost trend of the bank, helping it understand what was financially sustainable, what was not, and drastically improved our cost-to-income ratio.

3. MARGARET IKONGO

Margaret Ikongo is a former Managing Director of the National Insurance Corporation (NIC), and the first, and the only woman, so far, to attain this position. Currently, she is also a board member for three major Tanzanian corporations—NMB Bank, Vodacom Tanzania, and AAR Insurance Tanzania and all these are a result of her resilience, leadership, and ability to impact others.

While rising to the highest positions, Ikongo tore down barriers for women in Tanzania’s financial sector, as she was a Trustee at the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) from 2013 to 2016. As a result of her extensive knowledge of insurance and risk management, she is a highly sought-after executive. 

In 2006, Tanzania’s insurance sector had been liberalized for eight years, and the NIC was rapidly losing business to private sector competitors. As a result, the government decided to privatize it. However, Margaret did not agree with this decision as she believed that the NIC played an important role by offering affordable insurance to a significant portion of Tanzania’s population. Although she could lose her job by speaking up, Margaret believed that she must stand up for her principles, and this gave her the courage and strength to do the right thing.

This decision made by her attracted a person of influence to secure her an audience with the then-prime minister, and after he met with Margaret, the Prime Minister called the Parastatal Sector Reform Commission and paused the NIC’s sale until further discussions could be held about whether its sale was a good idea. Eventually, the decision was made to keep the NIC as a state-owned enterprise, boosting its presence and improving its success.

Why Invest in Leadership Development in Tanzania? 

According to the Gartner survey conducted in 2021, 67% of employees seeking a new job look outside their organization first, which makes investing in leadership development a lot more critical than ever for organizations because by investing in leadership development, companies can discover and keep great talent within their organization.

Research from the Center for Creative Leadership also has it that more than 5,400 leaders revealed that after completing a program, 86% saw significant improvements in their overall leadership effectiveness. Not only does this result in more successful and engaged employees, but it also showcases a strong link between commitment to the organization and an employee’s willingness to stay. 

By investing in leadership development, Tanzanian companies can help boost the retention of high-quality employees and save money in the process, This is because by not investing in leadership development opportunities for your employees, they’re likely to seek out a workplace that will. A recent study found that 58% of workers are likely to leave their company if they don’t receive leadership development opportunities.

Investing in leadership programs develops a deeper, richer pipeline of talent, which is why organizations today are seeking to unlock the full potential of their talent pools at all levels.

The Lasting Impact of Leadership Development – For Tanzania 

A detailed analysis of more than 1,000 alumni from the Leadership Development Program (LDP) revealed that 99% of its alumni reported success in strengthening the leadership skills most important to their work performance, which are communication, influencing across the organization, self-awareness, and implementing change.

Tanzanian companies can engage their employees in virtual leadership programs that can help their organizations minimize disruption and strengthen individual leadership skills, as well as improve employee engagement, retention, development, and organizational culture.

This act positions their organizations as one that values leadership development and are better at developing their leaders and placing the right people in the right roles — which, in turn, drives greater innovation and stronger financial performance. 

Benefits of Leadership Development In Tanzania

1. Increased employee performance and engagement

Investing in leadership development for Tanzanians gives room for effective leaders to possess the ability to motivate, uplift, and engage their teams. 

This is because when employees feel valued and supported, they invest their energy and creativity into their roles. Leadership development initiatives nurture these competencies, resulting in elevated employee contentment, productivity, and retention rates.

2. Builds innovation and adaptability

In an evolving world of rapid transformations, innovation and adaptability reign supreme. Effective leadership fosters experimentation and creativity, encouraging employees to embrace change and think beyond conventional boundaries. 

Leadership development initiatives leverage these qualities, empowering businesses to stay ahead of the curve.

3. Active growth planning and talent retention

Another importance of leadership development is being able to give back to your employees. This involves fostering leadership from within the organization as it is not only cost-effective but also ensures a steady stream of talent for pivotal roles. 

When employees perceive a clear path for growth and advancement, they are more inclined to remain with the company for the long term, reducing turnover and recruitment expenses.

4. Allows for effective decision making

Leaders frequently face decisions under pressure. Leadership development sharpens critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, furnishing leaders with the skills needed to make informed choices that propel the organization forward.

Many times, through leadership development, employees are well abreast of the company’s decision-making process and can contribute towards its growth.

5. Improvement in financial performance

In prioritizing leadership development, companies are setting themselves up not just for cultural success but also for financial success. Leadership development assists in building the capacity to reduce costs, drive new lines of revenue, and improve customer satisfaction. 

In addition, leaders become more motivated and vested in their organization’s success, establishing a culture that can lead to increased financial performance.

6. Detailed strategy execution

Organizations in Tanzania need a leadership strategy that aligns with business strategy when it comes to execution. It also entails equipping its employees with the leadership skills needed to maintain it. 

Leadership development also allows organizations to shape the culture and strategy of the business, setting them up for agility and growth.

7. Drives success through change

Leadership development increases people’s ability to lead change successfully, allowing Tanzanian organizations to look beyond developing senior executives and high potentials but rather leverage the full potential of all their talents, organizational agility, resilience, and innovation.

By facing an unpredictable business environment, 86% of companies with strategic leadership development programs can respond rapidly, compared with 52% of companies with less mature leadership programs.

8. Improved Communication and Collaboration

Effective leaders are skilled communicators and collaborators. Leadership development programs help leaders to improve these skills, which leads to better teamwork and more effective communication throughout the organization.

Leadership development allows for skilled and precise communication pushing for better collaboration of its employees in the company/organization.

Leading The Way To Leadership Excellence in Tanzania

The existence of a gap (Leadership Development) and the desire to fill that gap is what birthed the CEO Apprenticeship Programme (CAP). 

This initiative recognized that with the right blend of business insight and understanding, coupled with good governance as well as ethical and performance-based leadership, one can play a significant role in nurturing sustainable social and economic growth and providing transformative opportunities for increased and progressive development for the United Republic of Tanzania.

This initiative was launched in 2019 and was aimed at training Tanzanians through mentorship and coaching sessions and preparing them to become future CEOs. The 12-month leadership program spearheaded by the CEOrt and Strathmore University Business School (SBS) is designed to identify and attract experienced Tanzanian executives within the public and private sectors with a career path towards becoming senior executives.

Through specialized coaching and mentorship, this initiative intended to train its participants employing them to create a future pipeline of highly competent, experienced, and visionary Tanzanian executive leaders who are ready to graduate to CEO positions within the region and beyond.

For its second Cohort, CAP has already recorded much success in achieving its objectives. A fifth of the participants who graduated in the first cohort have been promoted to CEO positions. A few of them include;

Anael Samuel, now Managing Director at Songas Limited, was promoted during his time in the program and became the first Tanzanian to hold the CEO position at one of the largest gas-to-power companies in Tanzania. Coca-Cola Kwanza Limited also named a new CEO last year, as they picked yet another CAP alumni, Unguu R. Sulay. 

CAP continues to witness many more successes from its first cohort with Justin Mollel, who is currently leading finance operations as an Exco in one of Diageo’s largest markets in Africa. 

Through CAP’s push, for excellence, the board recognized that gender balance is critical to unlocking sustainable prosperity, making the CEOrt committed to delivering gender equality and diversity for the country’s sustainable and equitable development and to catalyzing social and economic changes by assisting the government in identifying and eradicating obstacles to social and economic advancement.

Through consistently pushing awareness on gender inclusion, CAP, under its core pillars, strongly encouraged the participation of female leadership, as each cohort supports the strong efforts being pushed by Her Excellency, President Samia Suluhu Hassan, to enhance gender parity via the installment of strong female leadership within higher office and government ranks.

Conclusion

In Tanzania’s dynamic business landscape, leadership development is not merely beneficial but essential for driving sustainable success. By building adaptable, innovative, and ethically grounded leaders, Tanzanian businesses can enhance their competitiveness, improve organizational resilience, and contribute to the nation’s overall economic growth.

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