“Midway into my second and last term (2010 – 2015) as President of the United Republic of Tanzania, my assistants, friends, and I began contemplating about what I would be doing after retirement. The discussion centred around how I could make gainful use of the knowledge and experience I have accumulated in my over 40 years of public service.
I was going to leave office in 2015, at the age of 65, in a good state of health, not too old and not too tired. I would still have a good reserve of energy which, if combined with my love and passion of service to humanity, would allow me to make worthwhile contributions to people’s advancement in Tanzania, Africa, and the world. What I would need was a mechanism to help me do that. This is why I conceived and established the Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete Foundation (JMKF).”
Our commitment to seeing things change means that we do not intend to compete with others, but rather complement ongoing initiatives through value addition and strategic partnerships. As we are aware that we cannot address all challenges faced in this world, we choose to prioritize and focus our attention on areas where collective effort can realistically translate into meaningful change, and where gains can be sustained in the long term. The impact we seek to influence is on positive change, not only in the lives of people today, but for generations to come. It is for this reason that our ability to identify and creatively leverage on synergies among the public, private, and civil society sectors is an area that we find both exciting and full of promise.
In line with the Chairman’s vision of people-centred problem solving, we seek to serve as an intermediary player in the Maternal and Child Health, Youth Development, and, in the near future, Smallholder Agribusiness space. We see immense opportunity in playing a catalytic role in our focus areas through effectively bringing a range of stakeholders involved in common causes together, collecting evidence, and deliberately sharing the lessons we learn on practices that yield society-wide impact.