New Tanzania Business Project to Support Entrepreneurs

The Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF), Icon Institute GmbH Germany and five other strategic partner organizations are joining forces with the Business Development Gateway (BDG) in order to implement a project to support the training and development of the Tanzania business sector through the strengthening of its local entrepreneurs.

According to a recent report by the Guardian, approximately 2069 out of a total 3934 local entrepreneurs have qualified to receive support during the initial two years of implementation for the upcoming BDG project.

The National Business Competition and the Business Diagnostic Program represent the two major components of the BDG project and were both designed to support training.

The recent Guardian report included an interview with the current manager of the BDG, Willem Van Derveer, who indicated that the participants in the BDG had been divided into two groups in order to maintain the effectiveness of the program in the provision of quality services

Mr. Van Derveer went on to explain that the first group, which was composed of 1124 of the 2069 participating entrepreneurs, would begin their training in August, while the rest of the group would wait until September in order to begin their training.

The BDG program, which was officially launched on January 15, 2009, was designed specifically in order to empower and strengthen the entrepreneurs in Tanzania and to help make it possible for them to launch and improve their current and future business endeavors.

“BDG is a program designed to strengthen the entrepreneurial culture of Tanzania by providing entrepreneurs and start-up firms with business ideas and grants thereby enabling them to participate in the micro, small and medium sized enterprises during the implementation and after,” said Mr. Van Derveer.

Mr. Van Derveer went on to indicate that the project had already made significant progress in the country in terms of its contribution to the improvement of the overall entrepreneurial culture within the Tanzania business communities.

According to the program manager, a total of 5308 applications were received by the TPSF from individuals who were interested in attending and participating in the two available programs.

In his interview with the Guardian, Mr. Van Derveer explained that those who had been selected to participate in the upcoming project would be given the opportunity to attend business trainings on how to run a company within their respective fields of expertise.

“These participants have already been assisted through a one day training session during which they were taught on how to bring a business concept to a business plan summary,” said Mr. Van Derveer, “which is the first stage towards the writing of a complete business plan.”

In order for the program to be successful, Mr. Van Derveer has requested partnership and support from some of the program’s major stakeholders, including the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (TCCIA); the Zanzibar National Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (ZNCCIA); the Small Industries Development Organization (SIDO); the National Micro-finance Bank (NMB); the people`s Bank of Zanzibar; and Zain.