{"id":151067,"date":"2026-04-18T15:35:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T15:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/youth-grab-118bn-loans-to-boost-businesses"},"modified":"2026-04-18T16:22:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T16:22:27","slug":"youth-grab-118bn-loans-to-boost-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/youth-grab-118bn-loans-to-boost-businesses","title":{"rendered":"Youth Grab 118Bn\/- Loans to Boost Businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ap-summary\" dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\n<h4>What You Need to Know<\/h4>\n<p>The Tanzanian government has disbursed 118.03 billion shillings to 8,165 youth groups, benefiting 44,754 members from July 2024 to February 2026. This initiative aims to empower youth through loans, supported by the WEZESHA Portal for efficient management and oversight, ensuring funds reach the intended beneficiaries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Tanzania. <\/strong> <\/span>A TOTAL of 118.03bn\/- has been disbursed to 8,165 youth groups comprising 44,754 members nationwide from July 2024 to February 2026.<\/p>\n<p>This was said by Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister\u2019s Office- Regional Administration and Local Government (PMORALG), Dr Festo Dugange in the National Assembly yesterday when reacting to Bumbuli lawmaker Eng Ramadhani Singano (CCM)\u2019s 115 question which inquired the government to explained how it ensures 10 percent local government loans reach the youth.<\/p>\n<p>The Deputy Minister said for the said loans to reach the targeted youth and other groups, the government is also using an electronic system known as the WEZESHA Portal for group registration, loan applications and loan management.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCommunity Development Officers continue to provide education and support to youths in preparing viable projects to enhance their eligibility for loans,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>He assured that the government will continue strengthening oversight of these empowerment loans to enable youths to engage in self-employment, increase income and contribute to national economic growth.<\/p>\n<p>According to him, the government ensures that the 10 percent loans reach youths in accordance with the Local Government Finances Act, Cap 290, as well as the 2024 Regulations and Guidelines for the Issuance and Management of Loans to Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Groups.<\/p>\n<p>The Deputy Minister explained that according to Regulation 5(2)(b) of the 2024 Regulations, four percent of unprotected internal revenue is specifically allocated to youth, and these funds are legally safeguarded. In her supplementary question, the Member of Parliament asked Dr Dugange to explain how women have specifically benefited from the initiative.<\/p>\n<p>Responding to this question, the Deputy Minister (PMORALG), Dr Festo Dugange said women are among the groups that have significantly benefited from the 10 percent loans.<\/p>\n<p>He cited the 2024\/25 financial year of which the the government planned to allocated 253bn\/- in loans to empower women, youth and persons with disabilities. However, 230bn\/- was actually disbursed during that period, enabling entrepreneurs to become self-employed and boost their businesses.<\/p>\n<p>In recent years, Tanzania has focused on empowering youth and marginalized groups through financial initiatives. The Local Government Finances Act mandates that a portion of local government loans be allocated to youth, women, and persons with disabilities. This approach aims to enhance self-employment and contribute to national economic growth, reflecting a broader commitment to inclusive development in the country. The government&#8217;s efforts are supported by various regulations that ensure transparency and accountability in the disbursement of these loans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Tanzania<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What You Need to Know The Tanzanian government has disbursed 118.03 billion shillings to 8,165 youth groups, benefiting 44,754 members from July 2024 to February 2026. This initiative aims to empower youth through loans, supported by the WEZESHA Portal for efficient management and oversight, ensuring funds reach the intended beneficiaries. Africa-Press &#8211; Tanzania. A TOTAL [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":151066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[15773,4674,15423,711,15774],"class_list":{"0":"post-151067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-economy","9":"tag-business-empowerment","11":"tag-government-support","12":"tag-tanzania","13":"tag-youth-loans"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Youth Grab 118Bn\/- Loans to Boost Businesses - Tanzania<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Over 118 billion shillings disbursed to youth groups in Tanzania to enhance business opportunities and economic growth.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/youth-grab-118bn-loans-to-boost-businesses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Youth Grab 118Bn\/- Loans to Boost Businesses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over 118 billion shillings disbursed to youth groups in Tanzania to enhance business opportunities and economic growth.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/youth-grab-118bn-loans-to-boost-businesses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tanzania\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-18T15:35:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-18T16:22:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/sites\/17\/2026\/04\/sm_1776529107.850688.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/youth-grab-118bn-loans-to-boost-businesses#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/youth-grab-118bn-loans-to-boost-businesses\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Youth Grab 118Bn\/- Loans to Boost Businesses\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-18T15:35:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-18T16:22:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/youth-grab-118bn-loans-to-boost-businesses\"},\"wordCount\":467,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/youth-grab-118bn-loans-to-boost-businesses#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/sites\/17\/2026\/04\/sm_1776529107.850688.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"business empowerment\",\"economic growth\",\"government support\",\"tanzania\",\"youth loans\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/youth-grab-118bn-loans-to-boost-businesses#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/youth-grab-118bn-loans-to-boost-businesses\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/youth-grab-118bn-loans-to-boost-businesses\",\"name\":\"Youth Grab 118Bn\/- Loans to Boost Businesses - 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