The future of Tanzania’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) looks bright, thanks to the establishment of the Tanzania Entrepreneurship and Competitive Centre (TECC).
Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) Executive Director, Mr Godfrey Simbeye
The centre, scheduled to become operational soon, takes over from the Business Development Gateway (BDG) programme that has reached and trained over 10,000 SMEs countrywide for the past five years. Working under the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF), BDG programme has funded over 6,000 SMEs throughout the country.
BDG Programme Manager, Sosthenes Sambua, told reporters at the ongoing Enterprise Competitiveness and Innovation Training on Thursday that the envisaged TECC signifies the resolve to strengthen SME sector in the country. “This shows how SME sector is valued as one of the catalysts of the country’s development,” he said.
TECC has been established following the efforts by TPSF in collaboration with the National Economic Empowerment Council and the Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH). Mr Sambua said TECC will take over activities formerly executed by the BDG programme and those of Cluster Competitiveness Programme, both under TPSF.
Among the areas of focus that the new centre will deal with will be strengthening innovation and competitiveness of the country’s entrepreneurs and other section of the population. Earlier, TPSF Executive Director, Godfrey Simbeye, said that it is innovation and competitiveness that will accelerate Tanzania towards development.
He thanked the government under the Prime Minister’s Office and other development partners – UK, Denmark and Sweden for their support on vibrant private sector. “We will not let down our stakeholders and we will make sure that the private sector in the country performs better and able to compete even at the international markets,” he said.
Experts say that SMEs makes up a large percentage of Tanzania’s work force, contributing substantially to the country’s economic development. It’s estimated that 90 per cent of the country’s SMEs are at micro level, with most of them operating informally amid little hope to grow. Expectations are high that the coming of TECC will help to upgrade the SME sector.
Source Tanzania Daily News