Digital presence
Policy Area
Challenges Facing Youth Entrepreneurs
Enhancing entrepreneurship education and skills development
Inadequate integration of entrepreneurship in the education system. Limited practical or experiential opportunities. Lack of and/or limited orientation to enterprising attitudes, behaviors and skills among teachers. Limited and/or poor-quality business development services. Lack of ICT skills. Inadequate infrastructure (physical workspace, digital infrastructure, access to reliable and cheap electricity). Insufficient technological readiness. Limited linkages between youth-led
Many youth enterprises struggle to maintain a digital presence due to common soft infrastructure factors like connectivity. Still, another critical aspect, access to technological licenses, such as Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), Application Programming Interface (APIs), etc., underscores the importance of a supportive regulatory environment in facilitating the digital economy.
Facilitating technology exchange and innovation
Entry and market access support
There exist unfavorable conditions for youth enterprises, especially startups, to enter new competitive markets. Policy directives and regulations that protect local youth enterprises’ entry are recommended.
startups and growth-oriented entrepreneurs and investors.
Distribution channels
Unfavorable distribution channels affect youth enterprises’ ability to engage with customers. Along with the ongoing reforms, further efforts are needed to help them navigate the market more effectively, facilitate the delivery of goods and services, and enhance overall customer satisfaction.
Some of these challenges are further discussed below:
Resource availability and access
Youth enterprises have limited access to funding for ideation, validation, and growth. Tanzanian startups predominantly depend on personal savings and support from family and friends (68.97 percent) for financing, restricting startups’ access to larger capital pools and thus inhibiting their growth potential. Policies that create an environment for promotion and incentivized funding will stimulate the entrepreneurship ecosystem and youth enterprises. [80]
Entrepreneurial skills
The existing entrepreneurship support organizations are inadequately capacitated to support startups. Existing entrepreneurship courses offered by institutions such as the NEEC and the University of Dar es Salaam Business School located at the main campus of the University of Dar es Salaam should be revisited to accommodate the interests of startups.
Business environment
Stakeholders communicated to the team that the business environment is unsupportive for the growth of youth enterprises. Several policies currently being reviewed, such as the SME Policy, Trade Policy, and Investment Policy, should accommodate the interests of startups and youth enterprises. For instance: There are still cumbersome and costly procedures for business registration and licensing. Tanzania’s regulatory structure has three levels: the Central Government, Central Government agencies, and LGAs. Startups face difficulties due to conflicting or duplicative policies and laws, differences in charges across LGAs, and multiple regulatory agencies with overlapping roles.
Support services
Startup founders face unsatisfactory support from Extension Services Officers, resulting in a prevalent skills gap within the ecosystem, causing most founders to lack the necessary skill sets to take their businesses beyond the founding stage.
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Youth Enterprise Policy Analysis Report
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