Africa-Press – Tanzania. AN entrepreneurship programme run by TechnoServe Tanzania is set to benefit more than 500 micro-retail shop owners in the fifth phase of the Pan-African Youth Entrepreneur Development (PAYED).
The training programme, which aims to provide basic management skills to business owners and managers, will include persons with disabilities in addition to the youngsters and women who have previously been targeted.
The programme dubbed PAYED will assist particular groups from the districts of Ilala, Kinondoni, Ubungo, Temeke, and Kigamboni.
PAYED Programme Manager, Ms Tunsime Kyando said since 2017, PAYED has supported more than 4,800 young micro-retailers in sub-Saharan Africa and graduates from the programme have seen an average of 34 per cent increase in their revenue.
“Micro-retail shop owners play an important role in our communities but they are one of the sectors that have not been provided with the required skills to ensure that they can expand their business and profit,” she said.
Speaking during an information-sharing meeting convened in Dar es Salaam yesterday, she said, among other things the programme provides shop owners with essential financial and inventory management skills also the importance of separating personal and business expenses, eventually opening a business bank account for savings.
Ms Kyando said the fourth phase, which ran from October 2020 to August 2021, helped 335 shop keepers from Dar es Salaam’s five districts.
The training, according to her, is centred on shop management, financial management, supply chain management, and investment.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, she said the initiative is utilising a hybrid strategy to give training information to the micro-retailers, combining the usage of a learning management system TalentLMS, PAYED Application, WhatsApp, and SMS.
Regional Principal Trade Officer, Mr Thabit Massa, said the programme has been placed under the Economic Empowerment desk to acquire best practices and sustainability.
Mr Massa suggested that shop owners form groups to make it easier to obtain loans and register with the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) to ensure that they can participate in public procurement under the amended Public Procurement Act Cap 140.
Mr Brighton Mlowe, one of the program’s beneficiaries, said PAYED’s training had a positive influence on his business.
“The programme enabled me to start keeping sales records and boost profit because, in the beginning, I was earning between 20,000/- and 50,000/-, but after the training, my earnings jumped to 100,000/-, which prompted me to open another franchise,” he added.
He stated that the majority of traders pile items and do not organize them according to their expiration dates because they do not understand the concepts of First In First Out (FIFO).
