YOUTH AND WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN TANZANIA Issues and Broad Recommendations Presented to a meeting of Development Partners Group 3 rd February, 2015 at Swedish/Finish Embassy By: Dr. Donath Olomi Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship Development ,

Objectives Share some observations and insights on youth and women entrepreneurship development: – Issues/Gaps – Some recommendations

Key Observations From the 2012 MSMEs Survey Report Women access more informal financial sources and less formal financial sources The biggest challenges facing WOEs - limited awareness, education and capacity 75% of their enterprises have 1 employee Women Owned Enterprises (WOE) and Financial Inclusion 47% of MSMEs owners are less than 35 years Little knowledge on how youth are engaged in owning and running enterprises NO detailed analysis of YOEs Youth Participation in MSMEs and Financial Inclusion

Segmentation of young and female entrepreneurs (different needs, challenges and responses to support/buz environment) 4-10% only Opportunity driven Growth oriented Formal Gazelles Small and medium 4-10% only Opportunity driven Growth oriented Formal Gazelles Small and medium 90%+ of youth and women led enterprises: Necessity driven (unwilling “entrepreneurs”) Survival/almost subsistence Part-time, seasonal/mobile Informal Do not see it as a permanent activity (does it make sense to formalize?) 90%+ of youth and women led enterprises: Necessity driven (unwilling “entrepreneurs”) Survival/almost subsistence Part-time, seasonal/mobile Informal Do not see it as a permanent activity (does it make sense to formalize?)

Youth employment and youth entrepreneurship issues 1million join labour market annually (+secondary and tertiary education increasing) Limited formal employment opportunities (est 40,000) Low employability skills (“over theoretization” of education and training contributes) Limited self employment skills/readiness (social values, view of the entrepreneurial process) Increasing youth unemployment, including graduate unemployment (nature and scale little known – apparently gendered)

What is in place Entrepreneurship curriculum for schools in place since 2005 and most colleges have entrep courses Many national policies talk about the problem and broad policy prescriptions (youth dev, employment, empowerment, etc, etc) Some experiments with settlement programs for youth (esp in agriculture and livestock – DSM, Tanga, Zanzibar) from 1980s Some youth entrepreneurship promotion initiatives (YEF, Buz Incubators, SIDO, TECC/YBI, NEEC, Competitions, funds) in place or in the process of being established – University/College incubators and entrepreneurship centres (UDEC, Mzumbe, SAUT, SUGECO, IMED)

Gaps/Issues – why is progress slow Entrepreneurial values developing slowly Entrepreneurship curricula remains unimplemented in schools (teacher skills, not a priority now) Past/existing initiatives either not quite effective? or scaled up (little known about outcomes and lessons) Low institutional capacities (MDAs, Colleges, BDSPs, etc) for policy implementation - funding, HR, resource management, learning and scaling up Inadequate focus of initiatives – segmentation (gazelles vs...) Business environment (e.g. inefficient infrastructure and serious market distortions – rice, sugar, oil, fake inputs) do not encourage the informed youth to become an entrepreneur

SOURCE: MORI, NEEMA/ILO 2014 GAPS - WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN TANZANIA

Gaps/Issues Legal framework – alien to 90% of WOEs Financial services – several interventions/products, esp microfinance – but may be hurting the poorest (delinquency and default related to capacity) – need investigation BDS – designed for about 10% (mostly the opportunity driven) Representation – Women entrepreneurs associations weak. Young entrepreneurs not yet in the mainstream advocacy bodies

What is needed  Leadership in knowledge management, resource mobilisation and empowering and incentivising good practice, replication and scaling up of models  Think tank – beyond academic research to capture working models and good practice in Tanzania, region, world for replication and scaling up

Specific actions needed Invest in behaviour change (media) campaigns – build values/attitudes/practices more conducive to self development and a market economy Support/incentivise implementation of entrepreneurship curricula Engage international and local civil society working in partnership with public sector org to pilot, replicate and scale up initiatives Engage/empower civil society, government, academic community to creatively find solutions to distortions in the private sector – ports, railways, commodities (rice, sugar, milk

Recommendations What is needed Financial Services 1.Study workings of wholesale funds 2.Credit guarantee schemes to support WOEs and youth – but are the existing ones working 3.Study impact of MF to the poorest 4.Financial literacy BDS1. Innovative extended BDS needed for the bottom of the pyramid/necessity entrepreneurs Advocacy1.Capacity building of WE associations 2.Supporty youth to join and influence mainstream advocacy networks agenda

Improve approach Coordinate efforts of key actors, agree on and follow some basic good practices, share information Segment and tailor interventions to segments (e.g. Most necessity entrepreneurs - including youth and women - are poor, lacking capacity to absorb and use short term training or loan products – need some form of permanent “extended business development services” including in making borrowing and investment decisions)

Who will do it? Mainstreaming in govt – pros and cos Independent institution (PPP- Trust, Foundation) could harness resources/provide leadership in translating policies to action

THANK YOU