AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE government will continue to support the private sector to ensure its growth due to the importance of the sector to the economy, Tanzania National Business Council (TNBC) Executive Secretary, Dr Goodwill Wanga, has stressed.
He said yesterday during the launch of Tanzania Startups Association (TSA) in Dar es Salaam that start-ups are important to the national economy because of their significant contribution to the same.
Dr Wanga, however, also stressed on the importance of ethical capacity, coordination, organisation and transparency in the operations of the private sector, noting that a well-organised private sector will lead to good data that will help inform government decisions.
TSA is an umbrella membership-based organisation which brings together stakeholders of start-ups ecosystem in Tanzania to drive the agenda that ensures growth of start-ups.
He commended the formation of the association on the backbone that it will help bring to the table insights on the challenges facing start-ups for deliberations and resolutions.
“The fifth-phase government under the transformative leadership of President John Magufuli has significantly improved the business environment by levelling the economic playing field and implementing policies to fight corruption and the blueprint reforms,” he said.
During the same occasion, National Economic Empowerment Council (NEEC) Executive Secretary, Beng’i Issa said that TSA will be a platform for the government to work with startups to address challenges startups face.
In remarks read on her behalf by NEEC Acting Director for Empowerment and Local Content, Esther Mmbaga, she said that the council’s policy intends to ensure that the majority of the population partakes in economic activities,“We see that startups have a promising future so long as they get enough support. We will support startups in addressing challenges such as lack of capital, regulatory issues and other concerns that will be brought forth by the association,” she said.
TSA Chairman, Paul Wakanza, said that the association was only forged this year after realising the important role startups play in the national economy and how the nature of startups has changed over time.
He said that startups offer great opportunities for wealth and employment creation in the country by establishing social enterprises.
“We do appreciate government efforts in supporting us, the fifth-phase government has shown that the political will to allow the private sector to grow is there,” he said.
TSA Chief Executive Officer, Zahoro Muhaji, said that the association has been forged to assist startups address their challenges under one umbrella body, which would in turn assist many youth in the country because it is the youth who mostly engage in startups.
He said that one of the major challenges among youth is on how to start a business and not on how to do business, thus the association seeks to address this challenge.
According to Muhaji, other challenges startups face includes absence of policies and regulations that recognise startups and lack of curricula beginning from schools to tertiary institutions on entrepreneurship (entrepreneurial skills).
