Building Tanzania’s energy future starts with people

DAR ES SALAAM: Behind every new power plant, laboratory and transmission line stand the people who design, build and operate them. As Tanzania expands its energy system, its long-term success will depend not only on new generating capacity, but on whether it can build a sufficiently skilled, inclusive and internationally connected workforce to build, operate and maintain the systems on which that expansion depends.

Across much of sub-Saharan Africa, women remain underrepresented in science and technology. UNESCO estimates that in many African countries fewer than one in three STEM graduates are women. Closing that gap is becoming increasingly important as African economies demand more highly specialised expertise in fields ranging from artificial intelligence to radiology, nuclear medicine and advanced energy technologies.

For Tanzania, the issue is particularly timely. According to the country’s latest Power System Master Plan, installed electricity generation capacity is expected to increase from 3.2 GW in 2024 to almost 20 GW by 2050. Expanding the power system on that scale will require a much larger pool of engineers, technicians, researchers, IT specialists and other skilled workers capable of designing, operating and maintaining increasingly sophisticated technologies.

Recognising this challenge, the government has placed education at the centre of its long-term development strategy. The 2026/27 national budget allocates 2.4 trillion Tanzanian shillings to higher education, science and innovation, alongside an expansion of STEM scholarship programmes. The flagship Samia Scholarship will support more of the country’s highest-performing science students, while the Samia Extended Scholarship is doubling opportunities for students pursuing specialist disciplines such as data science and artificial intelligence abroad. At the same time, hundreds of new technical and vocational institutions are expected to expand access to practical skills training across the country.

Although skills needs extend beyond the power sector itself, projects involving nuclear technology and mining can help build technical capacity relevant to Tanzania’s broader industrial and energy ambitions. At the Mkuju River project, 46 Tanzanian technical specialists have already been trained and hired. The project also plans to establish a specialised Training and Competence Centre in Namtumbo district in 2027, creating a dedicated facility for preparing operational personnel.

Beyond domestic training, building a modern workforce also requires access to international expertise, advanced technologies and professional networks that may not yet be widely available at home. One initiative supporting this goal is the African Women’s Forum, expected to take place in Dar es Salaam later in 2026. Bringing together women working in nuclear science and technology from across the continent, the forum aims to encourage greater participation in technical careers and strengthen professional cooperation. It is being organised together with Women in Nuclear (WiN) Tanzania and WiN Africa, with the support of the Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission.

International leadership programmes are already helping Tanzanian specialists develop those connections. Diana Robert, a radiology specialist at the Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute in Dar es Salaam, recently took part in the 2026 inVisible Power Leadership Camp, organised by Rosatom in partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The programme brought together 18 young women from 11 countries working in nuclear energy, medicine and other high-technology sectors to exchange experience, strengthen leadership skills and build professional networks.

“The programme gave me new knowledge and confidence,” Robert said after completing the course. “Meeting women from different countries facing similar professional challenges reminded me that success is possible anywhere. I’m bringing this experience home to strengthen radiology and radiotherapy practice and training here in Tanzania.”

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The pipeline of future specialists begins even earlier. In 2026, Tanzania joined, for the first time, the international Icebreaker of Knowledge competition, which gives school students the opportunity to compete for places on a scientific expedition to the Arctic aboard the nuclear-powered icebreaker 50 Years of Victory. Nearly 5,000 students from 22 countries took part in the 2026 competition. The programme includes hands-on scientific learning: during the expedition, Tanzanian expert Dr Noel Rajabu Mabele led a practical workshop on human physiology, showing students how the body adapts to extreme conditions.

Tanzanian researchers are also becoming more visible in international scientific networks. Earlier in 2026, Aloyce Paulo Kinemelo of the Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission was selected to join Impact Team 2050, an international youth advisory council bringing together young professionals from around the world to discuss the future of nuclear technology and international cooperation.

None of these programmes alone will determine Tanzania’s energy future. New scholarships cannot replace investment in universities, and international exchanges cannot substitute for strong national institutions. Together, however, they illustrate a broader approach that combines domestic investment with international cooperation to prepare the workforce required for a rapidly changing economy.

Tanzania’s energy transition is often measured in gigawatts, infrastructure projects and investment targets. But its success may ultimately depend on something far less visible: whether enough young Tanzanians choose careers in science, engineering and technology, and whether they are given the opportunity to develop those skills. Long before new power stations begin generating electricity, the country’s energy future is already being built in classrooms, laboratories and training programmes.

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