The TEHAMA Awards are quietly putting Tanzania's ICT industry on the map
If you build software, host websites, run a fintech, or ship anything digital from Tanzania, the TEHAMA Awards are the most credible national recognition you can win. Here's why Sakurahost is rooting for the 2026 SME shortlist — and why we're competing too.
Why TEHAMA matters
For most of the last decade, Tanzanian software lived in the shadow of Nairobi's Silicon Savannah press cycle. The TEHAMA Awards are changing that — they're a homegrown industry recognition, hosted by ICTAT, judged by Tanzanian peers, attended by Tanzanian leaders. A TEHAMA win on your wall isn't a marketing trinket; it's a peer-validated stamp.
The categories worth watching in 2026
Best ICT SME
Where startups and growth-stage software houses compete. Most past winners had a .co.tz domain and a homegrown stack.
Best Fintech
The fastest-moving category. M-Pesa, Selcom, Mixx, NMB all feature; smaller fintechs are increasingly winning specialist sub-categories.
Best Youth ICT Initiative
Where the next generation makes its case. We sponsor an annual nomination from a youth-led organisation on our hosting platform.
Best e-Government Service
TRA, NIDA, NHIF, BRELA, eGA portals — and the private partners that helped build them.
Best ISP / Hosting Provider
A category Sakurahost is competing in this year. The 2025 cohort included serious players; the bar gets raised every year.
Lifetime Achievement
The architects of Tanzanian ICT — TCRA leadership, TIX founders, ICTAT presidents past and present.
Sakurahost is in this year — and we're not the only ones who should be
We're competing in the ISP/Hosting category in 2026. We host the websites of several past nominees and at least two prior winners, so we've seen the bar up close. It's rising — the 2024 finalists pulled together products that would hold their own anywhere in EAC.
Jumbe Nylon founded Sakurahost in 2019 with the explicit goal of building a TEHAMA-grade product on Tanzanian soil. Six years later it's genuinely competitive — but the most exciting part of the ceremony will be watching the SMEs and youth nominees collect their first major awards.
If you're building, nominate yourself
Hosting clients of ours have asked "am I really TEHAMA material?" and the answer has been yes more often than they expected. Self-nominations open every Q1 at tehamaawards.tz. We help our hosting clients draft submissions free of charge — bring us your pitch deck and one of our team will sit with you for an hour.
Frequently asked questions
What are the TEHAMA Awards?
TEHAMA (Teknolojia ya Habari na Mawasiliano — ICT in Swahili) Awards is Tanzania's flagship ICT industry recognition, hosted by ICTAT and partners. The 2026 edition recognises everything from best telco to best youth ICT initiative.
Where do I find the official site?
https://tehamaawards.tz — that's where nominations, voting, and ceremony details live. The ceremony itself happens in Dar es Salaam annually.
Why does Sakurahost care?
We host websites of multiple TEHAMA finalists and past winners — and we believe Tanzanian software deserves more visibility, not less. A strong ICT industry lifts every local hosting customer.
Can a small SME win a TEHAMA?
Yes — there are dedicated SME and youth categories. You don't need MNO-scale capital to be recognised; you need a Tanzanian-grown product solving a Tanzanian problem.
How do I nominate?
Watch tehamaawards.tz for the call for nominations each year (usually Q1). Self-nominations are accepted. We help our hosting clients draft strong submissions on request.
Related reading
Whatever you're building — we'll host it
From a WordPress portfolio to a TEHAMA-bound AI platform. .co.tz domain + hosting in one place.