Kenneth Mutaonga stepped to the podium in Arusha and told a room full of Tanzanian students something they do not always hear: the energy sector belongs to them too. Mutaonga, a Partner at Africa Investment Advisors and Co-Founder of Asilia Energy, delivered the keynote address at the fourth Youth in Energy Students' Conference in May 2026, urging young people to rethink their relationship with an industry that is reshaping their country. His address, titled "Energy Transition: African Youth and the Right to Develop," set the tone for what turned out to be a full day of honest conversation about who gets to benefit from Tanzania's resources.
The conference was held in Arusha and organised by the East African Crude Oil Pipeline and TotalEnergies in partnership with Ubuntu Impact Limited. Hundreds of students showed up in person, with hundreds more joining online, all gathered under the theme "From Resource to Prosperity: How Tanzania Turns Energy into Development." Students from Arusha Technical University, the Institute of Accountancy Arusha and the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology were among those who took part in masterclasses, panel sessions and career exhibitions throughout the day.
The event was built around a question that African policymakers and industry leaders keep returning to: how does resource wealth become lasting prosperity? For many countries on the continent, the problem has never been a shortage of natural resources. The real challenge is making sure those resources generate jobs, skills and economic diversification rather than simply flowing out of the ground and into someone else's economy.
Tanzania sits at an interesting moment. It is a country with a young population, growing energy infrastructure and genuine ambition, and the conference made clear that the next generation is expected to do more than watch from the sidelines. Participants were encouraged to see themselves as future decision-makers, not just beneficiaries of development. Whether that vision translates into real opportunity is the question worth watching.
Originally published by African Business.