Agreement with University of Tumaini

I am delighted to report that today we signed with Tumaini University! This is truly a big deal. Tumaini, which means ‘hope’, is one of the leading universities of Tanzania.

The "micro" part of Cheetah's micro venture captital model depends upon university assistance to help hold costs down and allow for micro sized investments. Because of the high cost of investment management, venture capitalists typically invest $2 million or more. Therefore, Cheetah's model of making $5000 to $500,000 investments is a real breakthrough. It takes strong support from universities to make this happen, including business plan competitions, student interns, and professorial assistance.

When I visited with officials from Tumaini in Iringa a couple of weeks ago, the declined to sign the agreement I presented. They said that they wanted to make their commitments broader and firmer in writing. They are so convinced of the value of the Cheetah programs, the impact they can have, and the link to the University’s mission that they wanted to make their commitments very clear.

Therefore, they assigned a committee to work on the agreement. When it was ready they made the eight hour trek to Dar es Salaam. Here is a picture of the Assistant Provost Rev. Dr. Richard Lubawa (center), and Mr. Thomas Mwanayongo the Dean of the Faculty of Law (left) and myself, Raymond Menard shortly after our signing.

This is really a big deal for Cheetah! Thanks, Tumaini University!