Zainab Ansell named among Africa’s 100 most influential leaders
The founder and Chief Executive Officer of Zara Tanzania Adventures received a Certificate of Honour at the 3rd Edition of the 100 Africa Most Influential Persons Awards in Kigali, Rwanda.
SATURDAY September 26, 2026
By Adam Ihucha
Tranquillity News Correspondent, Kigali, Rwanda
Tanzanian female tourism trailblazer Zainab Ansell has been honoured among Africa’s most influential leaders, adding a major continental distinction to a four-decade business career that has helped reshape Tanzania’s adventure-travel industry.
Ansell, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Zara Tanzania Adventures, received a Certificate of Honour at the 3rd Edition of the 100 Africa Most Influential Persons Awards on September 25 in Kigali, Rwanda.
The recognition celebrates her leadership, achievements and contribution to socio-economic development across Africa, placing the veteran tourism entrepreneur among a select group of business leaders, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and professionals recognised for their influence and impact across the continent.
Held at the M Hotel in Kigali, the awards were organised by The Business Executive Group in partnership with the International Business Council Africa and the African Chamber for Trade.
The platform is designed to recognise individuals whose professional achievements, leadership, and influence have contributed to Africa’s socio-economic, political, and cultural development.
For Ansell, the Kigali honour adds another chapter to a career built around tourism, entrepreneurship, and community impact.
She founded Zara Tanzania Adventures in the 1986, building the company from a locally rooted tour operation into a diversified tourism business spanning Kilimanjaro expeditions, safaris, and hospitality.
According to Zara Tanzania Adventures, the business today directly employs 1,410 people on a permanent and seasonal basis, sustaining thousands of families through jobs across tourism and hospitality.
Ms Ansell is credited with innovating an apt model of transferring tourists’ dollars to hundreds of poor communities through job creation, education, health, and the fight against climate change effects within the country.
One of the clearest expressions of that model has been her work with northern Tanzania’s Maasai pastoralist communities.
Ms Ansell, who also serves as the Founder and CEO of the Tanzania-based Zara International Travel Agency (ZITA), has sought to address historical disadvantages experienced by women in these communities.
She has developed a special window for helping underprivileged Maasai women in her bid to liberate them from poverty and the economic constraints associated with traditional norms, financially empowering them to buy raw materials for making beads and crafts and selling them to tourists.
Through her women’s development centre, hundreds of Maasai women benefit from the tourism sector, gaining an opportunity to showcase and sell beads, carvings, and other products along routes to Tanzania’s most popular tourist sites.
The initiative has grown to become a strong pillar for the women at large and this particular host community, creating a direct connection between tourism spending, local enterprise, and household income.
Her social investment has also extended into education, including the school she runs and wider support for children and schools through Zara Charity.
In a landmark initiative, Zara Tanzania Adventures also enrolled 1,200 porters working on Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru in health insurance, giving mountain crews access to medical care and addressing a longstanding welfare gap in the trekking industry.
Environmental stewardship has formed another part of the model.
Zara Tanzania Adventures and its charity have supported conservation and environmental initiatives while promoting responsible travel and the protection of Tanzania’s natural heritage.
“I hope it encourages other African women to keep building the things they believe in,” Zainab Ansell, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Zara Tanzania Adventures.
In 2026, Ansell was elected to the Board of Directors of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, beginning a three-year term in September.
Her election places an African tourism entrepreneur inside one of the industry’s leading global sustainability institutions at a moment when environmental responsibility and destination resilience are becoming increasingly important to tourism businesses and investors.
That record has attracted a growing portfolio of international and national recognition.
Zara Tanzania Adventures won Africa’s Leading Tour Operator and Tanzania’s Leading Tour Operator at the World Travel Awards in both 2022 and 2023.
The company was then named Africa’s Leading Adventure Tour Operator in 2025 and again in 2026, while Ansell received the Global Humanitarian & Tourism Leadership Award and the Tourism Legend Award 2025–2026 for her contribution to Tanzania’s tourism industry.
In her acceptance remarks, Ansell said the recognition had taken her back to the reasons she entered tourism in the first place: Sharing Tanzania’s natural beauty with visitors while creating opportunities for children and communities.
She also used the moment to shift the spotlight away from herself, dedicating the honour to the guides, porters, drivers, camp and lodge teams, charity workers, and office staff behind the Zara Tanzania Adventures business, as well as her family, partners, and supporters.
“None of this is the work of one person,” she said, describing the Kigali recognition as a proud moment for herself, her teams and Tanzania.
Ansell’s story reflects a wider shift in African tourism entrepreneurship: The emergence of locally owned businesses capable of building internationally recognised brands while retaining strong connections to the communities and landscapes on which the industry depends.
For Tanzania, the recognition comes at a time when the country is seeking to deepen the economic value of tourism, expand adventure and experiential travel, and strengthen the participation of domestic businesses in the international tourism value chain.
From the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro to Tanzania’s safari circuits, Ansell’s enterprise has grown with an industry increasingly focused not only on attracting travellers, but also on the opportunities tourism can create for the people and places connected to it.
And in Kigali, Ansell offered a message that reached beyond her own achievement: African women should continue building the businesses, institutions, and ideas they believe in.
“I hope it encourages other African women to keep building the things they believe in,” she said.
Adam Ihucha is a prominent Tanzanian journalist and author recognized for his extensive coverage of tourism, wildlife conservation, and economic issues in East Africa. Based in Arusha, he serves as a senior correspondent for The Tranquility News and is a long-time contributor to eTurboNews (eTN), where he provides global insights into Tanzania's travel industry.
Throughout his career, Ihucha has written for several major publications, including The Guardian (Tanzania) and The EastAfrican. His work frequently highlights the intersection of environmental conservation and economic development, covering critical topics such as anti-poaching initiatives, national park management, and regional trade within the East African Community. His journalism is noted for its advocacy for sustainable tourism and its role in documenting the achievements of Tanzania's tourism sector.
Email contact: ihucha@tranquilitynews.com
