DAR ES SALAAM, October 19, 2017 – Two Tanzanian youths have been selected winners of the #Blog4Dev Contest 2017 launched earlier this year by the World Bank.
With this victory, Aidan Constantine Nzumi and Charles Kapondo will travel to Washington D.C. to participate in the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in April 2018, and get to meet and interact with other #Blog4Dev Contest winners from different countries across Africa.
“I am excited to win this contest because it is an opportunity for me to put into action my ideas towards addressing the challenges young, aspiring farmers like myself are facing with accessing important information to enable us yield more from our efforts and generate even more opportunities for others,” said Nzumi, 25, a recent Bachelor’s graduate in Geomatics from Ardhi University.
“I am involved in online trading and I need to interact and network with people across the world,” said Kapondo, 27, who is pursuing an MBA at the University of Dar es Salaam. “I see this trip as an opportunity to meet with other innovative young people to exchange ideas. This will help me grow my business and create opportunities for other youth as well.”
While announcing the winners in Dar es Salaam, Bella Bird, the World Bank Country Director for Tanzania, Malawi, Burundi and Somalia, said, “We received many high-quality submissions testifying to great enthusiasm and creativity among Tanzanian youth who are eager for opportunities to better their lives. The winners demonstrate enterprise and drive to implement in their small way the strong ideas they have and we believe they will be an inspiration to other youths.”
The writing contest which ran from June 15 to July 31, 2017, targeted Tanzanians aged between 18 and 28 years who live in the country, and attracted 332 submissions. Participants were required to send in 500-word original essays in either Kiswahili or English on how to boost opportunities for youth in the country.
While the winners’ trip to Washington D. C. was initially planned to take place this month during the Annual Meetings, it has been moved to April 2018 when all the winners from other African countries where the World Bank is also conducting the same competition will be brought together to provide them with greater opportunity to interact and learn from each other.
Two runners-up from the Tanzania contest will receive paid internships at the World Bank in Dar es Salaam or at World Bank Group-supported projects of their choice. They are Edgar Buberwa, 20, who is going into his second year at the University of Dar es Salaam where he is taking a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance; and Michael Peter Mollel, 27, who has just completed his MBA in Agribusiness at Sokoine University. In addition, all four winners get to have their winning essays promoted on World Bank online platforms.
“This is a great opportunity for me to learn more within the international development environment and I intend to maximize it to benefit my studies, my career goals and my country,” said Buberwa.
“This internship will help me learn more about the development challenges that the World Bank is helping to address and I also hope it gives me an opportunity to share my ideas and solutions for what I think should be done,” said Mollel.
