On 11 September 2026, the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), General Jacob Mkunda, reaffirmed the Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPDF)’s commitment to strengthening collaboration with the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) in research, technology and innovation.
NM-AIST Vice Chancellor, Prof. Maulilio Kipanyula, highlighted that the proposed collaboration would leverage the complementary expertise, knowledge and technological capabilities of TPDF and NM-AIST to advance strategic areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Science and emerging technologies.

Prof. Kipanyula further noted that the partnership would foster the development of home-grown technological solutions, strengthen national research and innovation capacity, and contribute to Tanzania’s aspirations under the Development Vision 2050.
The engagement underscores the growing importance of strategic partnerships between academia and national institutions in harnessing science, technology and innovation to address national priorities, strengthen national capacity and respond to emerging challenges.

During his visit to NM-AIST, General Mkunda and his delegation toured key institutional facilities, including research laboratories, the Centre for Computational and Data Science (C-CODE), the CENIT@EA High Performance Computing (HPC) Centre, the Library and the Incubation Centre.