Twaweza East Africa

What Twaweza East Africa does

Twaweza East Africa is a non-governmental organization founded in 2009, headquartered in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with operational presence in Kenya and Uganda and approximately 105 employees. Its mission is enabling citizens to exercise agency and supporting governments to be more open and responsive, delivered through two flagship programs: Sauti za Wananchi, a nationally-representative, high-frequency mobile phone panel survey of public opinion implemented in partnership with Ipsos; and KiuFunza, a teacher performance incentive program that rewards Tanzanian primary school teachers with cash bonuses tied to student learning outcomes. Sauti za Wananchi has operated for 10 years across the three countries, and KiuFunza has reached over 77,000 pupils across 265 schools in 11 regions of Tanzania. The organization supplements these with an extensive open-access publications library covering governance, education, health, livelihoods, and civic engagement.

The underlying technology is methodological rather than product-based: Sauti za Wananchi relies on mobile phone survey infrastructure with Ipsos as data collection partner, producing representative longitudinal opinion data. KiuFunza is a cash-for-results intervention built on structured learning assessments, with results informing Ministry of Education policy. Twaweza does not operate a commercial technology product; outputs are research publications, datasets, and policy briefs freely distributed.

The business model is institutional donor grant funding rather than commercial revenue. All programs are provided free of charge to citizens, governments, and media. In 2023, Twaweza received USD 2,784,349 from Sida, Embassy of Switzerland, Hewlett, Hempel, Ford, SAIIA, and Wellspring for Tanzania activities; in H1 2024 it received USD 1,002,345 from Hewlett, Hempel, and Wellspring. The 2024-2027 strategy sets an explicit target to positively impact 10 million East African citizens, with priority focus on women, youth, and marginalized groups.

Name

Twaweza East Africa

Legal name

TWAWEZA East Africa

Website

https://twaweza.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Twaweza East Africa is a Dar es Salaam-headquartered non-governmental organization founded in 2009 that operates in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda to advance citizen agency and government accountability. It runs Sauti za Wananchi, a mobile-phone citizen opinion panel survey, and KiuFunza, a teacher performance incentive program, funded entirely by institutional donor grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civil Society and Governance Research Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Elementary and Secondary Schools (611110)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

NGO/Nonprofit Education Programs & Service Delivery (EDADALAC)

Keywords

• Citizen engagement research
• Civil society organization
• Governance and accountability
• Teacher incentive programs
• Public opinion surveys

Headquarters

HQ city

Nairobi

HQ country

Kenya

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Institutional Donor Funding: Twaweza East Africa operates as a non-governmental organization funded primarily through grants from international development donors. Revenue comes from institutional donors including Sida, the Embassy of Switzerland, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Hempel Foundation, Ford Foundation, South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), and Wellspring Philanthropic Fund. The organization does not charge for its programs or services; all work is funded through donor grants.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Twaweza East Africa runs the Sauti za Wananchi mobile phone citizen survey platform that provides real-time, nationally-representative public opinion data across Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, and the KiuFunza teacher performance incentive program that delivers cash-for-results payments to teachers in Tanzanian primary schools based on student learning outcomes. The organization also produces and disseminates a broad library of research publications, policy briefs, and datasets covering governance, education, health, and civic engagement.

Product overview

Twaweza East Africa is a civil society organization operating across Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda that enables citizens to exercise agency and governments to be more open and responsive. Its product portfolio centers on two core initiatives: Sauti za Wananchi, a nationally-representative mobile phone panel survey platform that delivers real-time citizen feedback and public opinion data to policymakers and the public; and KiuFunza, a teacher performance incentive program that motivates and rewards teachers in Tanzania based on student learning outcomes. The organization supplements these with a comprehensive research publications library including briefs, fact sheets, press releases, position papers, datasets, and monitoring reports covering governance, education, health, livelihoods, water, media freedom, and civic participation across East Africa.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sauti za Wananchi: A nationally-representative high-frequency mobile phone panel survey offering policymakers unique access to data on citizens' real-time experiences and views in East Africa.
• KiuFunza

Products and services

• Sauti za Wananchi A nationally-representative, high-frequency mobile phone panel survey of public opinion and citizen experiences conducted in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, providing real-time data on citizen views to policymakers, media, and the public. Survey implementation is conducted in partnership with Ipsos.
• KiuFunza A teacher performance incentive program that measures and rewards individual teacher performance with cash bonuses based on student learning outcomes, implemented in Tanzanian primary schools to improve basic literacy and numeracy.
• Research Publications Library An open-access library of research briefs, fact sheets, press releases, position papers, monitoring briefs, and data resources documenting citizen opinions, governance issues, education, health, livelihoods, water, media freedom, and civic engagement across East Africa.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 77,000 pupils improved basic reading and math skills through KiuFunza teacher incentive program
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSAIIA partnered with Twaweza on specific programs in Tanzania, providing research and policy engagement expertise.
• IpsoscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIpsos conducts the Sauti za Wananchi mobile phone surveys in partnership with Twaweza, providing methodological expertise and data collection infrastructure across Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda.
• UwezocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUwezo is a key partner for learning assessments, conducting annual learning assessments in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda to measure children's literacy and numeracy skills. Uwezo assessments have collected data on over 1.5 million children.
• MIT GOV/LABminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTwaweza partnered with MIT's GOV/LAB on innovative experiments using conjoint design to understand how Tanzanian citizens view politics and government.
• Coalition on the Right to Information (CORI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTwaweza participated in the Coalition on the Right to Information, submitting views on Electronic and Postal Communications Regulations in Tanzania.
• Creative Industry Network Tanzania (CINT)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCINT partnered with Twaweza to call for fair distribution of royalties to artists in Tanzania, engaging with COSOTA.
• Msichana InitiativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMsichana Initiative partnered with Twaweza to produce a film on child marriage in Tanzania, advocating against child marriage practices.
• Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFIC partnered with Twaweza and the Ministry of ICT to produce an Access to Information Guide for civil servants in Uganda.
• Government of Tanzania (Ministry of Education)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTwaweza works with the Tanzanian Ministry of Education to implement the KiuFunza teacher performance incentive program, which aims to improve learning outcomes in public primary schools.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/josiahwandera
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCdSG8BJ3eBk1TWZHGfHlqYw
• Facebookfacebook.com/twaweza
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/twaweza

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Twaweza East Africa