Posted on January, 21, 2019 at 10:45 am
Lack of knowledge on cross border trade is a critical obstacle impeding Kigoma women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.
Small Industries Development Organisation (SIDO) Kigoma Regional Manager, Gervas Ntahamba said in Kigoma on Wednesday that women entrepreneurs face challenges namely access to market information, understanding of customs and immigration requirements, compliance with standards, business development skills and access to finance.
“Women engaged in cross-border trade still face many challenges that are affecting their performance and profitability,” he said.
He said issues like language barrier, insufficient working capital and the fact that mothers are not allowed to cross some borders with the young children, still impend business growth of women engaged in cross-border trade.
Ntahamba said that SIDO in collaboration with UN Women and Tanzania Women Chamber of Commerce (TWCC) conducted training to women entrepreneurs in Kigoma to empower them become more competitive and tackle cross border trade barriers in order to make business successfully.
“In our training we emphasized on branding their products and put the Tanzania Bureau Standards (TBS) mark because most of the entrepreneurs’ goods lacked the standard mark,” said Ntahamba.
One of the entrepreneurs, Ms Doroth Takwe said that women entrepreneurs in Kigoma have failed to meet the criteria due to small capital which makes them unable to improve their products.
“Women entrepreneurs have not been able to access and benefit from the East African Common Market that would have created multiplier effect on poverty reduction, economic growth, increased government revenue and employment creation,” she said.
Source: Daily News