Mawingu

This picture says it all - the passing of the baton - assuring Habari's growth strategy on an upward trajectory.      We honour Kabaza Runyeta (extreme left), the outgoing General Manager at Habari. For the last 7 years, she has overseen the company's growth and expansion to 7 regions across Tanzania, consequently making Habari a notable player in the country's Internet space! Thank you, Kabaza, for your dedication and commitment to Habari's vision and mission, and we wish you all the best in your next professional chapter.      I'm excited to introduce Simon Lee (extreme right) as the incoming General Manager at Habari! Simon is an experienced technology strategist with over two decades of management experience leading Technology teams to achieve outstanding results. He also has a passion for innovation - using technology to solve complex business challenges across multiple sectors e.g. FinTech, EdTech, and Telecommunications. Simon also brings more than a decade of experience in the entrepreneurship space, having initiated and successfully scaled start-ups. In addition, he is an accomplished project manager, successfully implementing multi-million dollar projects within budget and in adherence to the set timelines.  I am confident that Simon brings the needed skills, experience, and synergies to infuse the salient aspects of Mawingu Group's vision and mission into Habari's growth strategy. Welcome on board, Simon!

🚀 Celebrating the People 🚀 A day after we successfully closed the acquisition of Habari, I had the privilege of spending half a day in the field with Umusulaim Mugalula (Ummy), a new sales agent who recently joined Habari. She is dedicated to selling Habari Max, our flagship product offering affordable unlimited internet with speeds of 10MBPS. The experience was humbling and inspiring. Below is a picture of Ummy and me driving around in her car, meeting customers, and sharing ideas. Ummy is the true definition of a hustler—this is her first formal job after university, and she’s never looked back. Since day one, she’s consistently exceeded expectations, and as of November 26th, she had already achieved over 115% of her sales target. At Mawingu, we believe people are the foundation of our success. It's our mission to invest in and empower individuals like Ummy across the portfolio, helping them thrive while driving innovation and impact. Here’s to celebrating hard work, resilience, and the incredible people who make it all possible! #Teamwork #ConnectivityForAll #MawinguExpansion #HabariMax #InvestInPeople

🎙️ Had an incredible time catching up with Moses Kemibaro on his podcast to dive deep into two major milestones for Mawingu: 1️⃣ The acquisition of Habari, marking our expansion into Tanzania and beyond. 2️⃣ Raising $15 million to fuel our growth and continue driving impact in both Kenya and Tanzania. We talked about what this means for connectivity, innovation, and the future of internet access in the region. A big thank you to Moses for hosting such a meaningful and insightful conversation. Stay tuned for the episode—looking forward to sharing our vision and journey with you all! #ConnectivityForAll #MawinguExpansion #Tanzania #Fundraising #Leadership #Innovation

In 1994, Arusha Node Marie, a company providing dial-up-based Internet and email services, was born. It was the brain child of erik rowberg pictured here with our CEO, Farouk Ramji. 3 decades and a couple of name changes later, Habari now serves customers in 7 regions across Tanzania! In the words of our CEO, as we welcome Habari into the Mawingu Group: "Our strong alignment of vision, mission, and values will help expedite our long-term goal of positively impacting 1 Million East Africans by 2028, giving them access to meaningful Internet; opening them up to more opportunities."

In 1994, Arusha Node Marie, a company providing dial-up-based Internet and email services, was born. It was the brain child of this man here - erik rowberg. 3 decades and a couple of name changes later, Habari now serves customers in 7 regions across Tanzania. Thank you Erik for letting us welcome Habari into the Mawingu Group. Our strong alignment of vision, mission, and values will help expedite our long-term goal of positively impacting 1 Million East Africans by 2028, giving them access to meaningful Internet; opening them up to more opportunities.

💥 Mawingu has raised KSh 1.9 Billion (US$ 15 Million) to acquire Tanzanian ISP Habari and expand its network in East Africa! 💥 The core of Mawingu’s mission is to provide Internet connectivity to those in underserved or unserved areas, opening them up to opportunities.  We are now excited to announce an expansion of this mission into Tanzania! Starting today, Mawingu kicks off its expansion journey into East Africa with the acquisition of Tanzanian Internet Service Provider (ISP) Habari and the receipt of KSh 1.9 Billion (US$ 15 Million) in investment capital!     This is the first strategic step towards our very targeted and ambitious rollout strategy to positively impact 1 Million East Africans by 2028! This milestone would not have been possible without the support of the AfricaGoGreen Fund (managed by Cygnum Capital) who have provided KSh 1.4 Billion (US$ 11 Million), together with the support of our current investors, InfraCo Africa, part of The Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), and the FMO - Dutch entrepreneurial development bank who have invested an additional KSh. 0.5 Billion (US$ 4 Million) investment.    It's only onwards and upwards, here-on-out for Mawingu! Farouk Ramji Emma Kerr John Omagwa Ashish Gaokar Martha Watene

Celebrating Charles Watiri and the Impact of Mawingu.ORG When I joined Mawingu back in September 2021, I had the privilege of meeting Charles Watiri, who at the time was leading the mobilization of over 1,200 hotspots across the Mawingu network. It didn’t take long to recognize Charles’ unwavering passion for creating meaningful impact. Inspired by his vision and with the support of Mawingu’s co-founder, Maggie Hobbs, and Board member Frank Mccosker we decided to establish Mawingu.ORG, a registered nonprofit (Company Limited by Guarantee). Charles now leads this initiative with incredible dedication. In early 2024, we set out to test a bold hypothesis: connecting institutions—any establishment committed to doing good in their community—on a social tariff. This means providing internet at the same cost we purchase bandwidth, ensuring affordability without compromising quality. Thanks to our longstanding partners at Microsoft and strategic guidance from Lene S. Schulze, we refined our approach, tested use cases, and sharpened the impact we wanted to achieve. Today, I’m immensely proud to share that Charles has exceeded all expectations, securing over $500,000 in grant funding this year alone to advance Mawingu.ORG’s vision. His achievements reflect the heart of why this company was founded—to drive sustainable change and empower communities. Thank you, Charles, for believing in our mission and for your tireless efforts in bringing it to life. Your work reminds us why milestones like these matter. Here’s to celebrating this incredible success and the even greater impact that lies ahead! 🎉

Established in 1954, World Children's Day seeks to promote international togetherness, awareness amongst children worldwide, and to improve children's welfare. The day offers a starting point towards further advocacy, promotion, and acknowledgment of the importance of children's rights, consequently leading to the necessary action being taken to build a better world for children. Access to meaningful Internet connectivity can open up innumerable opportunities to children, empowering them to make positive contributions on the global stage in future.  Our foundation, Mawingu.Org, is dedicated to supporting underserved and unserved institutions and communities that need Internet connectivity the most, positively impacting the digital inclusion agenda. Responsible access to the Internet will therefore ensure that children are able to take advantage of critical learning and skills development opportunities. Happy World Children's Day! Let us all play our part in nurturing our future leaders!

Happy International Men's Day. Today we celebrate your health and wellbeing. #InternationalMensDay

Mawingu is a proud partner of Microsoft's AI Skilling Initiative in Kenya! The initiative aims to train 1 Million Kenyans in AI and Cyber Security by 2027, enabling them to integrate AI into their operations consequently boosting economic growth and job creation, and, additionally, improving educational quality by increasing the use of AI among teachers and students. In the long-term, this skilling initiative seeks to equip Kenyans with the requisite skills to succeed in the digital economy, in line with the country's Vision 2030 and Digital Masterplan. Our Head of IT, Martha Watene, and our Head of Impact, Charles Watiri, attended the launch event.