BWI, together with IndustriALL, and in partnership with STYRKE and NITO from Norway, held a three-day project evaluation and consultative meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from 10 to 13 February 2026. The mentioned partners supported three BWI affiliates (TUICO, TAMICO, and TPAWU), all based in Tanzania, in the attempt to deepen their organising and retention of membership, through the development of union-level membership databases, a key step in BWI’s digital unionism strategy. The meeting brought together 15 male participants, including 4 youth, and 4 female participants.

Through the project, the affiliates have been able to intensify recruitment and organising drives in BWI sectors, improve working standards through collective bargaining agreements, and social dialogue. This was demonstrated through a workplace visit at the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Phase 1 corridor package in Dar es Salaam, managed by the Sichuan Road and Bridge Company group (SBRG) and organized by TAMICO. A key highlight was TAMICO’s ability to organise and recruit 48 new members out of the total workforce of 392 (including 38 females) despite challenges of worker intimidation and threats. Already, the union managed to secure the workers’ employment contracts and improve occupational health and safety (OHS) practices on the site.

In wrapping up the evaluation exercise, Paulsen Ole-Kristian (STYRKE International Advisor) emphasised the importance of the project unions’ sustainability and the focus on youth inclusion. He highlighted that youth mentorship programs are essential to harness the “innovative, creative, and divergent views” needed to build the future of the unions in the Africa and Middle East (AME) region. These sentiments were echoed by Garikanai Shoko, BWI AME Regional representative, who encouraged unions to take challenges as opportunities for future union building, working in solidarity.