UUpekee

AfriUpekee Limited · Dar es Salaam

Turning young Tanzanians' skills into a living.

We run our own businesses and bring young people in to learn by working in them. The goal is for them to earn a living from their skills, ideally by starting their own businesses.

See how it works Get involved

A young participant and a facilitator at an Upekee session

3 to 5young people per cycle, so each one gets real attention.

The idea

We teach by letting people do the work.

Many young Tanzanians have useful skills, but they have no clear way to earn from what they can do. Training on its own does not usually solve this, because people learn business best by actually doing it, with real customers and real money.

Upekee works differently. We run our own small businesses and young people learn by working in them. As the businesses grow, they help pay for the training.

For now the programme is small and paid for mainly by supporters and event sponsors. As our businesses start making a profit, a set share of what they earn will go to the programme, kept in a separate account so it can be tracked.

How the parts fit

How the parts fit together.

AfriUpekee Limited is the parent company. Money moves from the businesses and from supporters, into a separate Programme fund, so it is always clear how much has gone to young people.

Earns

Upekee Cakes

A bakery making cakes and related products for birthdays, events and everyday orders.

Earns

Upekee Events

Corporate MCs, public speaking, and a package that puts an MC together with a celebration cake and media coverage from our IT firm, Tembosoft Limited.

Earns

Upekee Advisory

Paid business support for people and companies who can afford it.

The mission

The Programme

Free, capacity building and hands-on entrepreneurship support for young people, paid for by the businesses and by supporters.

Order our cakes

Buy a cake, and help the work.

Every order helps pay for our work with young people. Choose what you want, tap the button, and send us a message on WhatsApp. We reply and confirm your order there.

Cake slices with sauce

A 1000ml container of soft cake layered with sauce. Choose vanilla, chocolate, strawberry or lemon.

TZS 10,000 per 1000ml

EFD receipt issued. Free delivery inside the Makumbusho stand area.

Order on WhatsApp

Event cakes

Custom cakes for birthdays, celebrations and events. Starts at half a kilo, plain. Different sizes and flavours available, just tell us what you need.

From TZS 15,000 1/2kg plain

EFD receipt issued. Free delivery inside the Makumbusho stand area.

Order on WhatsApp

Events and hosting

Book an MC for your event.

We provide corporate MCs and public speaking for events, seminars and celebrations. Our full package puts a professional MC together with a celebration cake from Upekee Cakes and media coverage from our IT firm, Tembosoft Limited, so your event is hosted, catered and captured in one booking.

Book this service

The programme

How the programme works.

We run the programme in short cycles with a small group at a time. The goal is economic self-reliance: a young person who can earn from their skills, whether by running their own business or by working.

STEP 01

Identify

We choose a small group of young people who show commitment and already have a practical skill or a real idea to build on.

STEP 02

Nurture

They learn by working in our businesses, backed by short sessions on pricing, records, customers and pitching, plus outside mentors from other trades.

STEP 03

Transform

Each person leaves with a clear next step, whether that is starting their own venture or getting work first to build up money and experience.

STEP 04

Follow up

We check back at six months and a year to see whether they are earning and whether they have started a business of their own.

In pictures

Moments from our sessions.

Training and mentorship, and our first youth event where young people came together, learned, and shared a cake we made ourselves.

Group photo of everyone at the event — Our first event at the Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT)

A young woman working on a laptop during a training session — Working through a training session

Two people talking during the session — During the DIT session

Pieces of cake on a plate — The cake we made

Watch

Upekee Wangu

Our daily messages in Kiswahili. Follow along as young people build their skills, one day at a time.

Open the full playlist

Stories and updates

What we have been up to.

News from our sessions, our businesses, and the young people we work with.

Support us

Sponsor, donate, or partner with us.

There is more than one way to back the work. Reach out on WhatsApp and we will explain the next steps.

Sponsor a cycle

Cover the training costs of one three month cycle for a small group of young people, and follow their progress.

Talk to us

Donate

Give any amount towards the programme. Every contribution goes into a separate fund we can account for.

Talk to us

Partner with us

If your organisation works with youth, skills or enterprise, let us build something together.

Talk to us

Your voice

Tell us how it is going.

Whether you took part, mentored, or supported us, your honest feedback helps us make the programme better. It takes about two minutes.