A Business Trip That I Never Returned From - AFRICA WITH RIFAH
By : Aamir Syed., Director of Palisade Group Limited based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
January 2025
After suffering a loss in my first startup right after college, I had taken up a job in 2023. It paid me well, helped rebuild my self confidence but never felt like the thing I was made for. Prior to that, I had worked in my family business along with my undergrad studies and wanted that rollercoaster feeling of a business again. I live by the quote: Ships are safest at the harbour but they aren’t made for that. I was figuring out my exit plan from the job when I got to know that Rifah is taking a business delegation to East Africa - Kenya and Tanzania. I immediately submitted my resignation, spent Ramadhan in my hometown and started preparing for the trip.
Growing up watching the great migration of wildebeests and crocodile infested rivers of Masai Mara on Discovery and National Geographic Channels, there was that image of Africa in my head. Although I knew full well that there are Indians, specially Gujaratis who have been trading with the African east coast for centuries, nothing prepared me enough for what I saw on the ground.
May 2025
A conflict caused some flights to be cancelled. The rerouting made me fly from Nagpur - Mumbai- Delhi- Nairobi- Dar es Salaam. 5 airports and almost 32 hours later we finally reached the destination where I am currently writing this from. ( No, the delegation didn’t forget to take me back, I went to India and came back again here this year)
Tanzania has a long shared history with India. Infact, the hotel we stayed in was located on ‘Indira Gandhi Street’. Not only do locals respect Indians, they are well aware of our mannerisms and preferences as well. Chapati, Biryani, Chai are common words. I'll be honest both the chai and biryani will disappoint you but at least they try to make it.
We set off to Kariakoo market with Anees Bhai telling us that this is the biggest market of the country. Narrow lanes, humid sticky weather, traffic jams even for pedestrians and tiny shops lined as far as your eyes can see. For once, I thought these 150 sq ft shops? Do these really make up the biggest market of this place? The congestion of the lanes and size of the shops made it feel like it is just a normal old market lane of any Indian city.
Kariakoo Market, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
As we realised on walking and talking further, that these tiny shops indeed do millions of dollars of trade. Kariakoo is the largest import, export and wholesale market in Dar, which is the largest port city in Tanzania which is the only major access point for international trade for 6 countries landlocked behind it - Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe. These 7 countries have a combined population of 28 crore and if it was a single nation it would be the world’s 4th most populous country. Now, imagine the trade volume in this market.
We spent 3 days in Dar and the next 3 in Nairobi, Kenya. We had several business meetings with local chambers of commerce and professional networks. In these power packed 6 days, most established business owners in the delegation were eyeing one thing - trade partners so they can sell their products. I, however, was trying to figure out - How do I settle here? 
Networking meet with Kenyan Chamber of Commerce in Nairobi
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Travelling for business internationally is a huge challenge, specially when you have no locals to help you out. Rifah Chamber of Commerce and Industries has done something never seen before. Affordable, safe and guided tours that help you see the world and scale your business into markets you never thought of. Following are a few tangible positive outcomes I got through the trip. When I revisited Kenya and Tanzania, I booked long term affordable accommodations through the connections I made on the trip with Rifah. Another noteworthy aspect was how strongly I bonded with other Rifah members. I am sure at least 10 members in the delegation will become your close friends and refer business to you back in India - even if you don't happen to do any actual business in the destination.
On the last day when I was asked to share my review of the trip I said this trip is the ‘shama’ from the urdu couplet -
Shiqwa e zulmat e shab se to kaheen behtar tha, apne hisse ki koi shama jalaate jaate
Rifah is in itself a pioneering initiative that strives to change the reality rather than cribbing about it.
India is in itself a huge market but most of it is similar in a broad sense of culture and trade practices (margins, competition, business regulations). Moving out, seeing the world and interacting with new cultures breaks the mental barriers and facilitates an exchange of ideas that would never be possible in your own place.
An excellent example of the benefits of cultural exchange is found in the Battle of Trenches ( Jang e Khandaq/Ahzab) from the seerah of Prophet SAW. A simple idea proposed by Salman al Farsi (who came from Persia) became a major contributor to the success when muslims were just about 3000 defending against a siege of 10000 Makkans because Arabs had never seen this concept of trenches before.
If an idea can save a civilisation, what can it do to a struggling balance sheet?
A picture clicked in the National Museum of Nairobi explaining the role of Indians in the African Banking ecosystem.—----------------------------------------------
8th May 2026
Leap of Faith. Flew to Nairobi. Spent a month in Kenya. Then I moved to Dar Es Salaam. 5th month and counting. Explored a lot, a lot is yet to be explored. Will save some stories for Rifah’s next Africa delegation where I'll narrate it to you in person inShaAllah.
Celebrated Russian novelist and philosopher Leo Tolstoy wrote - “All great stories are one of the two - a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town.”
The question is - Will you set out on a journey or wait for the stranger?
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Aamir Syed is a Rifah Prime Member and the director of Palisade Group Limited based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
You can contact him on Whatsapp +255 724747999