Tanzania plans to use its hosting of the Miss World competition to showcase its diverse cultures, traditional attire and ethnic communities to a global audience, with contestants expected to spend time learning about selected Tanzanian communities.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday, September 24, 2026, Information, Culture, Arts and Sports Minister Paul Makonda said the international pageant would provide an opportunity to raise Tanzania’s profile, attract investment, create jobs and expand income-generating opportunities for citizens.
He said preparations were under way to establish a committee bringing together the ministry, tourism stakeholders and private-sector players. The committee will work with the company responsible for organising the competition to ensure preparations meet the required standards ahead of the event next year.
Tanzania expects visitors from about 126 countries, making the event one of the country’s major international gatherings, Mr Makonda said.
He said the government wanted the economic opportunities created by the competition to reach Tanzanians while ensuring that preparations take into account the costs associated with public resources.
“Miss World should not belong to the government or one company, but should belong to Tanzanians,” Mr Makonda said, calling for citizens and stakeholders to have an opportunity to contribute ideas on how the competition should be organised and conducted.
The minister said the competition would feature several categories involving different groups, requiring relevant authorities to work with stakeholders to identify opportunities that could benefit local communities.
He said hosting the event would also give Tanzanian companies experience in organising major international events, potentially enabling local firms to use that expertise to secure similar opportunities abroad.
Unlike events concentrated in a single location, the Miss World activities will be held across three regions because of the scale of the competition and the number of activities planned, Mr Makonda said.
Under the proposed cultural programme, each participating country would send a representative who, upon arriving in Tanzania, could select an ethnic community to learn about and spend time with.
The contestants would learn about the community’s traditions and culture before representing aspects of it during the competition.
Mr Makonda said the initiative would help promote Tanzania’s ethnic diversity, traditional clothing and cultural heritage internationally. He cited the Sukuma, Maasai and Meru among communities whose cultures could be selected by contestants.
The programme will be implemented in collaboration with the committee being established, while also creating employment opportunities for Tanzanians during preparations and the staging of the competition, he said.
Mr Makonda also said Tanzania had agreed to promote Kiswahili through the Miss World song.
He said the participating countries would prepare content linked to the song in Kiswahili, which would help expose the language to an international audience and communicate its message to communities worldwide.