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11.0 Business support and information: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005

Written by: International Labour Organization

Article Overview: The state of BDS provision in Tanzania is not well known. A 2003 SME-Mapping of Tanzania report concluded that existing BDS services are generally designed and financially supported by donors for the micro-enterprise market (and thus, are very basic), or are offered by professional consulting firms at high prices.

11.0 Business support and information: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005

The state of BDS provision in Tanzania is not well known. A 2003 SME-Mapping
of Tanzania report concluded that existing BDS services are generally designed and
financially supported by donors for the micro-enterprise market (and thus, are very
basic), or are offered by professional consulting firms at high prices.40 Furthermore,
among MSEs, there is very limited awareness of and access to BDS, including training,
consultancy and advisory services, marketing assistance, information, technology
development, and promotion of business linkages. This awareness was reported as being
well below 25 per cent in the Swisscontact (2003) report. Consequently, less than 10 per
cent of the SMEs in the Swisscontact survey reported having received any of these
services (see Table 8). The major reason for non-use was lack of availability in their
regions. On the other hand, SMEs perceive the need for BDS and consider it important to
the success of their enterprises.

According to MIT (2003), past approaches to achieve high reach among MSEs have
failed because of the lack of sufficient subsidization of BDS or the lack of sustainable
funding (services do not continue when donor-funded programmes end). The MIT (2003)
SMEDP Implementation Framework outlines a number of recommendations for
addressing gaps in the delivery of BDS, including increased local availability, improved
quality, and greater sensitivity to specific local market needs.

Women-owned MSEs are doubly disadvantaged in accessing BDS and information
because they are less likely to be able to afford the purchase of these services, and are not
linked to mainstream business networks such as the Chamber of Commerce. Women
entrepreneurs’ associations, which can be a conduit for dissemination of business
information and services, are not sufficiently developed to reach large numbers of
women operators.

The ILO (2003) report concludes that women are missing business opportunities
because few mechanisms exist for providing them with basic marketing information and
advice; in many cases, they are not even aware that these services exist. Interviews with
women entrepreneurs during the consultants’ field visit (November 2003) confirmed that
they are in need of information about market opportunities and advice on how to
organize themselves to take advantage of such opportunities. Key informants further
stated that BDS suppliers do not have the capacity to provide essential advice on growth
strategies because many of its officials are used to dealing with survivalist enterprises
and, themselves, lack knowledge. Consultants who do have the capacity are limited in
number and too expensive for most women-owned MSEs.

Related Articles
  1.2 Mission Objectives: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
  8.0 Promotion of women’s entrepreneurship: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
  1.3 Methodology: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
  1.1 Background and Introduction: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
  14.2 Recommended actions – women entrepreneurs’ associations: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005

Article Tags: BDS, business information, business opportunities, information technology development, services marketing, Swisscontact, Tanzania



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