A TANZANIAN banker who rose from graduate trainee to Head of Trading at Stanbic Bank Tanzania is highlighting the value of investing in young professionals, following his participation in the One Young World Summit in Cape Town, South Africa.
Farid Ally joined Stanbic Bank Tanzania as a graduate trainee. Today, he holds a senior leadership position at the bank, a career journey that reflects the opportunities created when young people are given the skills, mentorship and responsibility to grow.
Ally represented Tanzania at the summit, held from November 3 to 6, 2026, which brought together young leaders from more than 190 countries, alongside business executives, policymakers and public figures representing more than 250 organisations.
The event marked the summit’s return to Africa for the first time since Johannesburg hosted it in 2013.
Standard Bank Group, the parent company of Stanbic Bank Tanzania and Africa’s largest bank by assets, partnered with the summit and sponsored its closing ceremony. The Group also supported 61 young delegates, including a special delegation of 30 current and former graduate programme participants, among them representatives from East Africa, ahead of the 30th anniversary of its Graduate Development Programme.
Ally said his experience at Stanbic had demonstrated how workplace support and opportunities could help young professionals develop their careers.
“I joined Stanbic as a graduate trainee with a degree and a lot of questions. The people around me gave me room to learn, to make mistakes and to take on more responsibility each year,” he said.
He added that meeting young people from different parts of the world reinforced his belief that Tanzanian youth could compete internationally when given the right opportunities.
The summit’s focus on youth leadership and opportunity comes at a time when Tanzania faces the challenge of translating its large youthful population into productive employment.
According to the 2022 Population and Housing Census published by the National Bureau of Statistics, Tanzania has 21.3 million people aged between 15 and 35, representing 34.5 per cent of the population.
Young people also account for more than 55 per cent of the national labour force. However, youth unemployment stands at 9.5 per cent nationally and rises to 15.9 per cent in urban areas, where many graduates seek their first jobs.
The government has placed young people at the centre of Tanzania Development Vision 2050, with a target of creating at least 8.5 million jobs between 2025 and 2030.
Presenting the 2026/27 budget for the President’s Office responsible for Youth Development to Parliament, Minister of State Dr Joel Arthur Nanauka said the government viewed young people as an important asset for national development.
“The government sees young people not as a liability, but as a major asset for national development,” he said.
Against this backdrop, Stanbic Bank Tanzania says it is investing in young talent through recruitment, professional development and leadership programmes.
Its graduate trainee programme places university graduates in practical roles across different departments, allowing them to gain experience and understand the bank’s operations.
The bank says 93 per cent of trainees were retained, according to figures shared during its 2024 graduation ceremony, while former participants have progressed into various positions within Stanbic and the wider Standard Bank Group.
Other initiatives include a field attachment programme that gives university students exposure to the banking industry and a Branch Managers Academy designed to prepare employees for leadership responsibilities.
Stanbic Bank Tanzania Head of People and Culture, Rabina Masanja Rienks, said the bank focused on identifying young professionals’ potential and giving them opportunities to take on meaningful responsibilities.
“We hire young Tanzanians for what they can become, not only for what they already know. Our graduates do real work from their first week, and our leaders give them time, feedback and responsibility,” she said.
She cited Ally’s progression from graduate trainee to Head of Trading as an example of the career opportunities available to young professionals within the bank.
At Group level, Standard Bank has also emphasised the importance of developing Africa’s young workforce.
Standard Bank Group Chief Executive for Africa Regions and Offshore, Lungisa Fuzile, said the continent’s future growth and prosperity depended on investing in the potential of young people.
In 2025, 251 graduates joined the Group’s graduate programmes across 11 countries.
Rienks said Stanbic’s investment in young professionals was also part of its wider contribution to Tanzania’s development.
“Stanbic has served Tanzania for more than three decades, and the people who will lead it through the next are the young Tanzanians joining us today. Investing in them is how we invest in the country. Tanzania is our home, and we drive her growth,” she said.
