Juma Burhan Mohammed: The pioneer of economic empowerment in Zanzibar

Perhaps you are amazed at the recent development of  entrepreneurship and innovation pace taking place in Zanzibar. Well, Mr. Juma Burhan Mohammed is behind it, and from today is no longer a secret.

Mr. Juma Burhan Mohammed is the Executive Director of the Zanzibar Economic Empowerment Agency (ZEEA). His appointment, as the top leader at the ZEEA helm, by his Excellency the President of Zanzibar, Dr. Hussein Ali Mwinyi is of no regret.

For the past two years of the agency’s inception, he has fostered empowerment and uplifting communities in the Isles.

Juma’s journey began with a robust educational foundation in finance and business management, equipping him with the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate the complex landscape of economic development.

Additionally, he earned a Senior Management Leadership Development Program from Strathmore University. At present, he is a student pursuing a PhD pogramme. His 14 years in the financial sector equipped him with a deep understanding of banking operations, SME financing, and financial education.

With leadership qualities and vast experience in finance having worked in several senior leadership positions, he has not only engineered the strategies for entrepreneurship and financing, but as well ensured that business start-ups are trained.

Prior to his appointment as the ZEEA boss, Mr. Juma had already established a distinguished career characterized by leadership, innovation, and significant contributions to various sectors. He co-founded N & J Consulting Group Limited, a firm that has been instrumental in providing strategic business solutions.

He also served in different boards of directors, including the National Board of the Madrasa Resource Center of the Aga Khan Foundation, Impact Hub Zanzibar, the Zanzibar National Chamber of Commerce, SOS Children’s Village Tanzania and served as a council member at Zanzibar University.

The role he played in these various positions he held, allowed him to influence and support a broad spectrum of initiatives aimed at social and economic development.

Juma’s banking career began as the Branch Manager of the Bank of Africa (BOA) in Zanzibar, where he managed operations for over six years. His leadership at BOA was marked by exceptional performance, with the Zanzibar branch being recognized as the Tanzania top-performing branch in the BOA group for four consecutive years from 2015 to 2019.

This accolade underscored his ability to drive operational excellence and achieve outstanding results.

Following his success at BOA, Juma advanced to become the Head of Branches at Diamond Trust Bank (DTB). In this role, he oversaw all sales and operations, including the management of DTB Zanzibar’s supply chain, sales activities, service, and support across all markets. His tenure at DTB was equally remarkable. In 2021, he was named the Best Performer of the Year, having increased the branch’s performance and growing the balance sheet size from Tanzania shlllings  2 billion to 10 billion within just three months from September to December 2021.

In addition to his banking achievements, he significantly contributed to the education sector. As a Board Member of the Madrasa Resource Center – Aga Khan Foundation, he played a pivotal role in expanding the number of Early Child Development (ECD) schools in Zanzibar from 30 to 84 between 2015 and 2020.

His commitment to education extended to academia, where he served as a part-time lecturer at Zanzibar University from 2020 to 2022, teaching more than 300 diploma-level students in the Faculty of Business Administration.

His extensive experience and notable accomplishments across various domains laid a strong foundation for his current role as the Executive Director of ZEEA, where he continues to drive economic empowerment and sustainable development in Zanzibar.

Other notable achievement worth special mention at ZEEA include the following:

Raising the level of ZEEA

Zanzibar Economic Empowerment Agency (ZEEA) has established itself as a catalyst for empowerment and sustainable economic growth in Zanzibar. Its innovative strategies have created an environment have sparked awareness among the people of Zanzibar, leading to an increased value placed on the concept of entrepreneurship among different stakeholders

This has been achieved as the agency focuses on several key areas including capacity building and training, access to finance, market access and networking, policy advocacy, support for innovation and sustainable development.

Skills Development and Vocational

Under his leadership ZEEA implements comprehensive training programs to enhance the skills of individuals, particularly in high-demand sectors. From its inception, the agency has trained about 1713 entrepreneurs on entrepreneurship skills in Unguja and Pemba.

These programs include vocational training, apprenticeships, mentoring, and capacity-building workshops to equip entrepreneurs and SMEs with essential skills in business management, financial and digital literacy that will empower them to run their businesses more effectively and competitively.

Access to funding and financial resources

Facilitating easier access to funding and financial resources is of paramount importance in citizen empowerment blueprint. In this area he has effectively utilized his extensive experience in finance and business management to partner with financial institutions to create tailored financial products, services and establish grant and loan programs to facilitate access to microloans, grants, seed funding which will enable entrepreneurs to start and expand their businesses.

Market Access and Trade Facilitation

On the issue of market access, networking and trade facilitation, ZEEA has been organizing exhibition, trade fairs and business expos in these two years of his leadership.

Entrepreneurs are provided with platforms to showcase their products. Fahari Festival is one of the good examples of the trade fairs by ZEEA.

Enhancing technology access and the internet has been proven to help in empowering citizens particularly in remote areas. Creating e-commerce platforms to connect local entrepreneurship with both local and foreign larger markets that will in-turn build strategic partnerships, is a priority to Mr. Juma as he underlines the participation in the digital economy as “crucial while highlighting the importance of preparing a robust mechanism with AI” to support the initiative.

ZEEA aims to create omni-channel payment solutions that will enhance the digitalization of Zanzibar’s economy.

Community-Based Development Projects

Promoting the formation of cooperatives to pool resources, share risks, and benefit from collective bargaining power, especially in agriculture and handicrafts, is another focus area.

Mr. Juma also encourages community-public-private partnerships to provide solutions to the community. Supporting the development of social enterprises that address community needs while creating employment and generating income is a crucial part of this strategy.

Sustainable Practices and Environmental Conservation

ZEEA young boss has been encouraging businesses to adopt sustainable practices that protect the environment and promote social responsibility.

He has earned respect for exceptional performance in reducing bureaucracy in the operations of ZEEA and for collaborating with various stakeholders including NGOs, development partners, and policymakers on various issues such as advocating for policies, guidelines, and regulations to create a conducive business environment for SMEs and startups.

The legacy he hopes to leave at ZEEA and the Isles

He hopes to leave back a legacy of empowerment and sustainable growth which will make Zanzibar a beacon of economic prosperity, believing that “empowering our people is key to unlocking Zanzibar’s full potential. This, he says will reduce unemployment, increasing access to finance for start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and ensure that entrepreneurs have access to markets.

ZiBi Team