How Zanzibar’s First CEOs Forum turned talk into national to do list

ZANZIBAR: WHEN the 250 Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) convened at Zanzibar’s inaugural CEOs Forum, they skipped the pleasantries and agreed on six resolutions, action plan that could redefine public service on the Isles, and beyond. The resolutions map a swift pivot toward innovation, transparency and shared prosperity.

Here’s how Zanzibar’s top brass from public corporations, agencies, and a sprinkling of privatesector partners, unanimously endorsed six headline resolutions plan to move from pledges to proof.

A Roadmap for Change, the resolutions include switch on the EOffice, switch off paper: Every institution must migrate fully to the government’s digital platforms within set timelines, ending the slowmotion era of manual files.

Train the top, lift the middle: All CEOs will receive certified leadership training, free— through the Institute of Directors; each must then cascade the programme to directors and line managers; and Measure what matters: A realtime “Performance Dashboard” will rank agencies against agreed indicators, exposing bottlenecks and celebrating breakthroughs.

Hunt risks before risks hunt us: Institutions will establish riskmitigation teams and report quarterly to the Forum; and Innovate or abdicate: Boards must budget for innovation funds and document at least two servicedelivery improvements per year are other resolutions.

The sixth resolution made by the CEOs is Govern by the book: Transparent procurement, strict anticorruption controls, and public engagement are nonnegotiable.

Those resolutions, read out by Forum Chairperson Mr Juma Burhan Mohammed, framed three days of intense debate at Zanzibar’s Golden Tulip Airport Hotel. By the closing session, delegates spoke less about what should change and more about how fast they could change it.

The Forum was born of a directive from Zanzibar’s Second VicePresident Hemed Suleiman Abdalla. Standing in for him at the opening, Minister of State for Labour, Economy and Investment Sharif Ali Sharif set the tone: “Innovation, accountability and collaboration between the Isles and Mainland are the DNA of sustainable growth.”

He singled out the Zanzibar Treasury Registrar Mr Waheed Mohamed Ibrahim Sanya—architect of the gathering, for “remarkable creativity” in partnering with mainland peers.

Hours later, Waheed returned the compliment, urging CEOs to “turn resolutions into results” that align with President Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi’s development agenda. In the recent past, Zanzibar’s public entities have somehow wrestled with overlapping mandates, slow procurement, and patchy service delivery.

Mainland Tanzania’s agencies, by contrast, have had longer to refine digital workflows and performance contracts. The Forum aimed to bridge that gap.

“It’s the right moment for Zanzibar to cooperate fully with the mainland,” Sharif noted, citing visible gains in roads, water, health and sports infrastructure delivered through joint programmes.

Collaboration not competition, he argued, will propel both halves of the Union. Inside breakout rooms, CEOs swapped cautionary tales and quick wins.

Mr Akif Ali Khamis of Zanzibar Ports Corporation (ZPC) confessed that port turnaround time still drags.

“Expert panels showed us exactly where digital tracking can shave hours,” he said, pledging to sync with the national singlewindow system before yearend.

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Mr Shukuru Suleiman Awadh, who runs the Zanzibar ICT Infrastructure Agency (ZICTIA), left buoyed by fresh strategies to monetise fibreoptic capacity.

“There’s a huge difference between where we were and where we are now,” he smiled.

At the Zanzibar Higher Education Loans Board (ZHELB), Ms Umrat Suleiman Mohamed sees mentorship as the missing link: “Advanced agencies must adopt the smaller ones. We rise together or not at all.”

Perhaps the most applauded pledge came when Burhan revealed he had secured nocost executive courses for all member CEOs.

The catch? Each graduate must foot the bill—financially and mentally, for rolling the curriculum downhill to their management teams.

The Institute of Directors has already drafted modules on strategy, ethics and digital leadership. “Good governance begins where excuses end,” Burhan quipped, drawing laughter and nods in equal measure. Resolution One, to “switch on the EOffice”, is more than a tech upgrade; it is a cultural one. Many agencies still rely on ink signatures.

Treasury Registrar Waheed reminded delegates that the government has is already investing in secure servers, broadband and workflow software: “What we lack may not be hardware; it is the will to abandon comfort zones.” The Forum’s timing, just five months ahead of Country’s general elections, was no accident.

Minister Sharif warned that lapses in integrity during election period and beyond could “invite embezzlement, corruption and poor service delivery.”

Peace, he stressed, is the precondition for every development metric. Deputy Minister- Ministry of State, President’s office- Finance and Planning Mr Juma Makungu echoed that sentiment, urging CEOs to “break the culture of complacency” often camouflaged by bureaucratic procedure.

Unity, he said, is a revenue stream in its own right. Before delegates dispersed, Mr Burhan explained about the forthcoming Performance Dashboard. “It’s not naming and shaming,” Waheed clarified, “it’s naming and changing.” Still, the message landed: in three months, those metrics will go live for all institutions, and excuses will find no hiding place.

If resolutions are to echo beyond conference halls, CEOs must convert them into userfacing improvements: faster port clearances, seamless studentloan disbursements, reliable ICT backbones.

Success will not only raise Zanzibar’s service bar; it will offer a template for regional integration across the East African coast.

As delegates filed out, each received a slim flash drive containing the resolutions, training schedule and a countdown clock to the first progress review. It was half symbolic, half pragmatic: the future they had pledged to build will fit in their pockets yet occupy their every waking hour.

The inaugural Zanzibar CEOs Forum may be over, but its six resolutions now carry the weight of a promise—to citizens, to investors and to one another—that accountability, innovation and good governance are no longer aspirations. They are the new minimum standard.