Meet Frederick Swai (Tanzania), Anzisha Prize Finalist

During secondary school Frederick Swai often noticed his neighbors' frustration when they were forced to make a 2km trek to print or copy documents. They complained not only about the inconvenient journey, but also about the printing center's limited resources. Frederick recognized an opportunity to provide a more convenient, superior quality offering, and he began saving his pocket money to fund his entrepreneurial idea. With his life savings and the support of his parents, Frederick soon founded The Dreamer Center, an organization that offers computing and office services such as printing and book binding. But this is not an ordinary stationery store -- at The Dreamer Center, Frederick and his team also offer a variety of educational enrichment programs to local youth, including computing skills courses and the opportunity to play educational computer games during non-school hours. Frederick and his two full-time employees have a strong recurring customer base, and they are now planning new ventures that can merge their IT experience and their passion for education. In the year ahead, Frederick seeks to begin publishing a magazine with local Tanzanian youth writers -- and he will begin attending university using the profits he has earned from The Dreamer Center.

All finalists, including prize winners, were awarded a US$1,000 prize to invest in their projects and a US$650 technology bursary to be used to purchase computers, software or equipment to help their projects.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

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• Frederick Swai
• Anzisha Prize
• African Leadership Academy
• MasterCard Foundation