According to key informants from the University of Dar es Salaam, entrepreneurship is only now becoming considered a legitimate and valued activity in Tanzania. There is a huge need to increase this and to create more awareness of the important role that owners of micro and small enterprises play in the economy. A much higher value has to be attached to opportunities in the SME sector and to the role of entrepreneurs so as to make it an acceptable and preferred option for college and university graduates, the next generation of entrepreneurs.
The low visibility of the role of women entrepreneurs in the Tanzanian economy is of primary concern. Currently women are viewed as only able to operate at the low end of the micro-enterprise spectrum. It is very important to raise the profile of women as entrepreneurs to change this perception, but it should be done within the context of fostering a stronger entrepreneurial culture in the country in general.
Since women dominate the micro-enterprise sector, and yet are undervalued and subject to stereotypical images, promotion is desirable for at least three reasons:
• to demonstrate the diversity of women entrepreneurs in the economy, some of which have grown to medium size; • to tap the full potential of women (being 52 per cent of the population) in the economic arena; and • to dispel the myth that women’s enterprise is only at the subsistence level and associated with poverty reduction activity, as opposed to job creation and economic growth.
Publicizing examples of successful women entrepreneurs is one way to achieve this, an approach that has been very successful in developed economies such as the United States and Canada.
The Tanzanian Government, in cooperation with ILO’s WEDGE-Tanzania project, is addressing this gap by producing the 30-minute documentary video, Women entrepreneurs in Tanzania: A woman’s golden hands, which profiles five women entrepreneurs. The video was released early in 2004. Apart from this initiative, profiles of successful women clients are often featured in the newsletters of support agencies (e.g., SIDO, The Tanzania Gatsby Trust, etc.). However, the distribution of these newsletters is relatively limited. Much more work is needed in the area of promoting women’s entrepreneurship.
To learn more about this author, visit International Labour Organization's Website.
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