Masika Ventures is a holding and support organization that provides shared services to its portfolio companies in Tanzania. It centralizes and standardizes functions such as finance, procurement, operations, HR, quality compliance, import-export, and sales across its affiliate companies, allowing them to operate more efficiently and sustainably. The company is headquartered in Dar es Salaam and employs a few hundred people.

Portfolio & Focus Areas

Masika Ventures supports several businesses that address agriculture, climate, sustainability, and local livelihoods:

Portfolio Entity Primary Activity / Focus
Upendo Honey Organic honey production, working with local beekeepers to harvest raw honey and meet international quality standards.
Tanganyika Blue Sustainable aquaculture, focused on native fish species in Lake Tanganyika, balancing economic development with ecological protection.
Dark Earth Carbon Biochar production through pyrolysis technology, turning agricultural waste into soil enhancers while sequestering carbon.
Halisi Agri Sesame value chains, building fair and traceable systems that improve farmer pricing, market access, and sustainability.
Organizational Model & Strategy

Masika Ventures operates on a shared-services model, acting as a back-office hub for its portfolio companies. This reduces duplicated systems and costs, creates economies of scale, and enables knowledge sharing across different businesses. Its affiliate companies can then focus more on their core activities—whether honey, aquaculture, agriculture, or carbon technology—while Masika provides the supporting infrastructure.

Recruitment & Positions

Masika Ventures regularly recruits for roles across operations, finance, procurement, administration, sales, and marketing. Examples of roles include:

Graphic Designer & Social Media Marketer – focusing on brand identity, content creation, and communications.

Sales & Admin Assistant – supporting inventory, procurement, import/export, and sales coordination across ventures.

The organization emphasizes being an equal-opportunity employer with an inclusive workplace culture.

Strengths, Challenges & Opportunities
Strengths

Efficient shared-services model.

Strong emphasis on sustainability and local livelihoods.

Diversified portfolio across multiple sectors.

Local roots and deep contextual knowledge of Tanzania.

Challenges

Scaling operations while maintaining quality and consistency.

Exposure to agricultural commodity price fluctuations and climate risks.

Infrastructure and logistics constraints in rural Tanzania.

Dependence on investment or donor capital to expand.

Opportunities

Attracting impact investment in sustainability and climate ventures.

Expanding into premium export markets (organic honey, traceable sesame, sustainable fish).

Regional expansion across East Africa.

Leveraging technology for traceability, quality control, and efficiency.