sambaza

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

sambaza (countable and uncountable, plural sambazas)

1. (East Africa) The Lake Tanganyika sardine, Limnothrissa miodon.
   • 2013 November 1, “Rwandans dig deeper into their pockets to eat dear fish”, in The EastAfrican‎, archived from the original on 2022-12-17:

     A kilogramme of Tanganyika sardines (sambaza) that used to cost Rwf4,000 mid this year has shot to Rwf6,000. Sambaza is widely consumed fish species in Rwanda both by low-income earners and upper classes.

   • 2017 July 16, Emma Love, “Snap up a silvery delicacy from Lake Kivu, Rwanda”, in The Guardian‎, archived from the original on 2020-11-09:

     Sambaza are thought to have been introduced to Kivu (the 2,700 sq km lake on Rwanda's eastern border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in the 1950s from Lake Tanganyika further south, and, despite their reputation as a delicacy, stocks have remained mostly consistent ever since.

   • 2018 November 30, Shannon Sims, “Rwandan Women Paddle Into the Male World of Fishing”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 2022-12-14:

     Sold dry sambaza go for a higher price than they do fresh. And in Eastern Rwanda, they form a central part of the edible economy; almost every dish in the restaurants along the lush banks of Lake Kivu incorporates sambaza, but perhaps most tastily as the crispy fried accompaniment to a sunset beer.

Borrowed from Swahili sambaza (“to disperse, scatter”), popularized by Sambaza, a credit sharing service developed by Kenyan mobile network operator Safaricom in 2005.

sambaza (third-person singular simple present sambazas, present participle sambazaing, simple past and past participle sambazaed)

1. (East Africa, slang) To send credit using the Sambaza system; (generally) to send or share something.
   • 2021 October 5, Grace Waruguru, “How to sambaza Safaricom bundles easily: Step-by-step guide”, in Tuko‎, archived from the original on 3 July 2022:

     They say that sharing is caring, and Safaricom users have wondered how to sambaza Safaricom bundles from one device to another.

   • 2022 July 8, Kenn Abuya, “Kenya Power Set to Introduce Sambaza Tokens”, in Techweez‎, archived from the original on 2022-10-24:

     What would you do if you were able to share Kenya Power tokens with friends or family, just in the same manner you Sambaza data bundles or airtime?

• “sambaza”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

• Audio (Kenya)

  (file)

-sambaza (infinitive kusambaza)

1. Causative form of -sambaa: to distribute

• Nominal derivations:
  • usambazaji (“distribution, dissemination”)