Eng. Kabenda Balete is an entrepreneur and innovator with an academic background in Food and Biochemical Engineering (BSc) acquired at the University of Dar es Salaam. Balete is a digital transformation expert whose visionary idea of the Kipaji App platform came after his experience in managing and assisting musicians in their careers during his entrepreneurial journey to pursue his dreams and as a singer for the past 12yrs. Under his guidance, most of them excelled in their career and sold several albums through digital video disc (DVD) markets.
Balete previously worked as a Sales Engineer, Service Engineer, and Service Supervisor at Davis&Shirtliff (T) Ltd a company with over 70 years of experience in water pumps and energy, a Country Director for the Malaysian Blockchain technology firm. He capacitated several institutions in Tanzania, guiding the understanding of the evolution of Blockchain technology and Digital Currencies through training.
He succeeded to conduct the same at Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Tanzania People’s Defense Force (TPDF), ICT-Commission, Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), E-Government, Parliament of Republic of Tanzania -Budget committee, Mzumbe University, and Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT), etc.
Balete was a panelist at Tanzania National Business Council (TNBC) on Tanzania's Digital Economy the Section on Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. He attended the Bank of Tanzania’s(BoT), 20th financial institutions conference in Dodoma as a panelist who contributed constructive ideas to the theme: Digital Currencies: Experiences, Risks and Regulatory Issues. He attended the African Financial Inclusion (Afi) summit in Arusha as a resourceful person invited by the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) to discuss how central bank digital currency(CBDC) could contribute to the financial inclusiveness in Africa.
In his endeavors, he conducted a 5-days workshop with Capital Market and Securities Authority (CMSA) and the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) on Blockchain technology and Digital Currencies. In creating awareness among the public about Blockchain technology and its effect on different sectors, especially in financial markets, he did several interviews through local and international media such as BBC World News, DW, China Global Television Network (CGTN), CNBC Clouds FM, Clouds TV, TBC1 and ITV on (Uchumi na Biashara) program which was led by the late Prof. Honest Prosper Ngowi.
Balete has strong leadership and management experience for over 7 years, having mostly practiced negotiation, communication skills, and networking. He is a digital transformation expert with skills in digital and affiliate marketing. He is a certified trainer of entrepreneurship at regent University-USA under the business development center based in Tanzania through the Kingdom leadership Institute (KLI).