Meet Gizzel and Gillian Mbaga, founders of KaziConnect
During a recent visit to Tanzania, we visited some of our growth programmes for an extensive interview with their founders about the company, their lives and entrepreneurship in their country.
In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, two sisters are revolutionising recruitment. Born in an entrepreneurial nest, Gizzel and Gillian are peas in a pod. Three years ago, seemingly random circumstances led to them founding KaziConnect, an innovative job recruitment platform for Tanzanians from all walks of life. With a focus on technology, youth employability and the integration of people with disabilities in the workforce, these sisters are without a doubt putting the H in HR.

Part 1: the work
Can you tell me a bit more about what KaziConnect does?
Gizzel Mbaga: we’re a HR consulting firm that embraces technology. Basically, we leverage tech to connect job seekers to employers. We offer three products. Our first product is recruitment, connecting employers to job seekers using our platform, which is www.kaziconnect.co.tz. Our second product is consulting work, where we help our clients with all HR duties or challenges that they are facing. If a client is facing performance issues, they call us in. If a company is trying to structure their business, we help them. Our third service is Kazi learning, a youth employability bootcamp. We organise employability masterclasses and bootcamps every month, where we train different graduates and connect them to job opportunities.
How does KaziConnect differ from other HR companies?
Gillian Mbaga: We have a job portal, called KaziConnect, where we advertise job vacancies for companies that are currently hiring. That's the number one differentiation, but we also really make sure we make quality placements, because we believe that once a person gets a job, he gets more than a job, more than a paycheck. He gets a skillset, makes new friends, even finds a purpose. Those are the two main differentiations between us and other agencies. We also stay in touch with the people we place. Some are now hiring managers themselves, some open their own businesses,.. we still keep in touch with them in different ways.
Gizzel: We also have a referral programme, so whenever a candidate is placed through Kaziconnect, we help them find the next friend or relative so they can sign up with us and then you can come in for online training programmes and new job opportunities.
When and how did you start?
Gizzel: We started KaziConnect in 2021, basically by sheer accident. In 2021, I had worked in the corporate space for 7 years, where I worked in the 2 largest HR firms in Dar es Salaam, where I first started my career as a recruiter, then senior recruitment manager, then head of HR services. At that point, working 7 years in a busy environment, I was really tired of working, so I decided that I am going to relocate and start my PhD programme. I moved to the US for a year to pursue my PhD and I thought I would relocate, work in the US and live there. But then 6 months in, when I was in the US, I got lots of customer requests - most clients knew that I had left the market, so they would reach out to me personally on WhatsApp, saying ‘You know Gizzel I’m trying to hire, can you please help me’ and so I found myself working a lot again. The first 3 months were crazy, especially with the different time zones. That december I came back home for holidays and my dad sat me down, because the only way the clients would pay me while I was in the US, was through my dad’s company so he could invoice them. So my dad sat me down and asked me ‘What are you doing for these people that they pay you while you’re not even here?’. I told him I just help them recruit and he said ‘I think you have a business. You need to come back home and build this business.’
That was a complete shock, because I had already started a new life, I had sold everything back home. And then COVID happened. We couldn’t travel anymore and the first 6 months I spent evaluating how I could go back to the United States, but things never worked out. Clients kept reaching out to me though, and then in september 2020 I got a huge assignment that I couldn’t do by myself. It would take 3 months to complete and I really needed an assistant. And who was the person closest to me? Gillian, my younger sister. She joined me on the assignment, it was very intense and after I mapped out everything, she ended up doing most of the work. Then after that assignment we came to realize that we’re meant to do this. So we founded KaziConnect.
Gillian: On the other side, I did my degree in China, in international trade and economy. When I was graduating, my mind was set on logistics, but coming back home, things were quite different. I got a job, and I think I had very high expectations and so I never really enjoyed what I was doing. I felt underutilized. Around the time I realised this and was wondering if I should quit my job, I got a chance to consult at the company Gizzel was referring to. I just realized how challenging and how eyeopening it was. It filled me with fire. I resigned, not knowing if we’re going to start the company or not; I just had to be bold and have faith. And here we are, 3 years later.


Have there been any big milestones yet? What are you most proud of?
Gizzel: Business wise we’re very new, we like to call it the ‘gearing up for growth’ stage. We’ve not grown yet, we’re just putting everything in order. But the past 3 years have been very fulfilling, because we’ve been able to touch so many lives. Our biggest milestone was when, I think in our first year, we worked with a gold mining company, on a major consulting deal. It was a reassurance to know that if your company is only a year old, and you are able to manage this kind of client, what you can achieve is limitless. That really set us apart, because we’re competing with agencies that have been here for a long time. Our second biggest achievement I think would be the number of placements we’ve been able to do. Around 250 people have been able to get jobs through our platform. We're able to help them and our clients' business grow, because behind every great business, there’s a great recruiter.
The third milestone would definitely be the people who have interacted with our brand. We’re trying to create a very diverse, inclusive environment. Whenever we interview people with disabilities, they don’t really get exposure in the corporate world. They live a very limited and closed life. We are opening our arms and company to people with disabilities who have what we’re looking for, to come and build this business together. In this part of the world, there’s a huge skill gap between what you’re taught in school and the actual work that you get to do. I see it with my team: they come in with high grades, but they still need to go through that training process. We are organising employability masterclasses every month as part of our CSR, we have a class with 30 people and call in experts to come in and train our graduates. We’re going to be doing this even more in the future.
Why HR?
Gizzel: I think HR chose me, honestly. I studied economics and my dream was to become a researcher and auditor; I planned on working in the government or a policy making firm, helping Tanzania create good policies. I still think at some point I will do that, maybe more employability and labour related, but I think God has other plans, because after finishing university I went to an HR firm and I was looking for a job like any other graduate, and the manager really liked me. She told me on the first day she met me: ‘You’re going to be a very good HR professional. I know you have this dream, but your personality and the way you are, you’re going to make a good HR professional’. So I took the job and then 10 years later, here I am. It’s not something I used to like or aspire to be, it grew progressively and now that I’ve worked in the industry for a while, I’ve got answers to many HR problems that I want to execute.
What are your ambitions and long term goals for the company?
Gizzel: I remember two years ago, a friend of ours, who is a marketing strategist, told me that the best way to look at the future is to put it into this perspective: if you get on the cover of a magazine ten years from now, what do you want the title of the magazine to be? Questions like these make me think of what the future could be and what we could make it. We are building this business to become a number 1 technology company, to cater to the masses. We want to be the number 1 job posting portal in Tanzania. We want the portal to be the go to place for everyone in Tanzania to apply for jobs as seamlessly as possible, and to have all employers know that the platform is a great place to find candidates. HR is a very technical, traditional, nitty gritty type of job. Lots of paperwork, lots of mini work, interviewing, sourcing,... it’s really minute work but it’s a lot. I want to invest in the platform so we can have our online training sessions with people in Kigoma, in Shinyanga,...
Gillian: To add on that, we look forward to being the HR agency that promotes and pioneers diversity and inclusion in the workplace. As Gizzel said, people with disabilities are already overlooked, so we would like to be pioneers, telling hiring managers that if you’re looking for someone to make content, someone with a disability can also take the job. We want to be the frontliner in promoting that, for them to get the same opportunities as others. It’s still quite new, people aren’t very receptive yet, but we believe that by showing - you know, walk the talk - we can get it done. It’s a change of mindset and perspective. I think we still have a long way to go, but again some companies have hiring managers who are quite open to taking these people in.
Gizzel: I just thought of this: if we're ever on the cover of a magazine, I want the title to be ‘The sisters who revolutionised the recruitment industry.'


Part 2: Exchange and life
What has your experience with Exchange been like?
Gizzel: We love it so far. I think Exchange is full of amazing people and I love their approach. Being people who have done quite a lot of programmes and are very picky, because this is time investment - and we have done a couple of programmes with the US embassy for example - I think Exchange is slowly becoming my number 1 programme. I like the slow approach, it’s very seamless. I don’t like when things are pushed onto us because real business is happening, clients still need to be taken care of. It’s always a very stressful environment so we want to be bringing in partners who are very understanding, like Exchange, partners who value our time, partners who bring real expertise, and amazing talent. I’m a recruiter, so I know good talent. I also love it being a 3 year programme, because I think in a business things can change within 6 months. Three years allows you a birds eye view to see how the business has grown. So I love your approach and I fully see this as a strong, long-term programme.
Can you tell me a bit more about yourself?
Gizzel: If I have to define myself in three words, I would say I’m a bold, exotic and very adventurous person. I love to travel, try new things, and push myself to the edge sometimes. Sometimes people really underestimate me, which is a good thing. I can keep surprising people this way. I would also say I’m a very kind person and I really like kind people as well. I come from a family of three, where I’m the eldest sister. Gillian and I have a younger brother, Gilpin - so we’re G-G-G. We come from a very loving family; our dad is an entrepreneur and he’s in agrobusiness, he's very supportive of our journey. Our mom works for the government, she’s a proper lady.
Gillian & Gizzel: I love pets, we have 3 dogs at home, 2 puppies, cats, ... on the weekend I read a lot - Gizzel and I both love to read. We love outdoorsy stuff, because we’re always at the office. I play tennis, Gizzel loves to swim, we’re always looking for trips, we’re always competing, playing chess at home, videogames with our younger brother, … we really spend a lot of time together, outside of work as well. We used to live together, and while Gillian got married last year but we still spend a lot of time together.
What inspires you in life?
Gillian: I believe being purposeful. I love being purposeful in anything I do. Starting from my work, the fact that I can help someone get a job and someone is calling me or texting me or sending me an e-mail, that inspires me to become a better person. In any and all walks of my life, if I’m very purposeful and resourceful, it really gears me up and makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing. So I think my greatest inspiration comes from being purposeful and helping another person.
Gizzel: I think for me the word success itself really inspires me. I’m always looking for ways to optimise my life experiences as a human being. So being successful is one of them, and it means so many things to different people. I’ll just define what success means to me; having a purposeful, real life, spending more time with my family, doing the things I love, helping people, giving more to people, that really inspires me each day. Every day I ask myself ‘Do I want to go for this client?’, ‘Will my work be valuable to them?’ I’d rather not work with a person who will not see my value; I’d rather stay at the office, think of a new product or keep calling other clients and servicing other people.


Part 3: entrepreneurship and Tanzania
How do you look at entrepreneurship in your country? What do you think about the business climate?
Gizzel: I think the Tanzanian context, the business environment is very heavy on relationships. As an entrepreneur, you really need to focus on building quality relationships with other business owners, people in different industries. That’s the only way you can cater. You can use social media as a way of personal branding and positioning yourself, but that won’t be very effective if you don’t build real relationships. That comes down to our Tanzanian culture: we are originally a socialist country. We live in communities, we do everything together, and people want to know who they are dealing with. In a larger context, when you’re trying to connect the government to entrepreneurs, I still think there’s a bit of a disconnect, with taxations, compliance issues and all that stuff. But still, if you are willing to build a business for the long run and are trying to scale a business, you have to be compliant, you need to be engaged with changing tax and labour laws that will directly affect your business.
I do think that the new regime is really trying to open up our horizons, there are lots of new investments coming in. The foreign world is also open to Tanzania and is more welcoming towards them, different from under our previous president. That’s also good for us as entrepreneurs, because it opens us up to new horizons, new ways of thinking and doing things. I think generally it’s a positive environment for entrepreneurship, you just really need to be here for the long term. If you’re an entrepreneur in Tanzania and you plan for short term success, you’ll not get it. You need to persevere, focus on the larger picture and really be compliant with the government, always build relationships and always create real value.
How do you see this situation evolving throughout the next years?
Gizzel: There should be a rise in investments; there have been lots of quality investments in the country, so I believe in the next years this will continue - we hope the president will stay on and we hope to see great investments and great businesses opening.
What improvements do you look forward to?
Gizzel: Technology. I absolutely believe technology is the answer. We’re very behind technology wise because that is not how we used to be. When you go to a country like Kenya, even a country like Rwanda, which is way younger than us, technology is more present than here. I think the biggest thing for most entrepreneurs that Exchange is supporting, the highest demand, will be for digital transformation. How to transform and optimise my business through technology. In the HR space, I want certain tools to really enhance the experience that I know we will never be able to achieve in a traditional way. In order for me to have 1 million job seekers on my platform, I need certain features, I need a certain level of technological advancement for me to be able to serve a hundred employers who want to post their jobs on my platform and for them to make payments online. I do believe we'll get there, but we should really focus on technological advancement.
