Women dominate green business graduates
DAR ES SALAAM: Women have dominated a class of 261 entrepreneurs graduating from the Biashara na Ajira Kijani Programme, accounting for 76 per cent of participants trained to expand businesses in Tanzania’s growing green economy.
The graduates, drawn from Arusha, Mbeya, Mwanza and Tanga, were equipped with business and financial management skills aimed at helping them strengthen their enterprises and gain access to formal finance.
The programme, implemented through the Stanbic Biashara Incubator with support from GIZ through the Stanbic Kenya Foundation, trained 77 entrepreneurs in Mbeya, 60 in Arusha, 60 in Mwanza and 64 in Tanga.
The businesses operate in five sectors considered central to Tanzania’s green transition—sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, circular economy, blue economy and green transport.
The entrepreneurs underwent classroom training between May and July this year, followed by individual coaching and mentorship.
The training focused on practical challenges that often prevent small businesses from accessing formal financial services, including costing and pricing, financial record-keeping, market access and preparation for formal credit.
Head of the Biashara Incubator at the bank, Kai Mollel, said the high participation of women was a reflection of their growing involvement in green businesses.
“We did not set out to run a programme for one group. We set out to find people already trading in green sectors and give them what the market was not giving them,” Mr Mollel said.
He said the programme sought to give entrepreneurs the structure needed to manage their businesses and engage financial institutions more effectively.
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“What we added was structure: how to price, how to keep records, how to hold a conversation with a bank and be understood,” he said.
GIZ Advisor and Technical Team Leader for the WE4D programme, Julian Henseli, said the partnership was designed to go beyond conventional entrepreneurship training by linking skills development with access to formal finance.
“Training on its own rarely moves a business into the formal economy. What makes this programme work is that the skills sit alongside a financial institution with a direct interest in seeing these enterprises grow,” Mr Henseli said.
He said green sectors would be an important source of employment opportunities in Tanzania over the coming decade.
Access to formal credit remains one of the major obstacles facing small businesses, particularly women-owned enterprises, which often struggle with collateral requirements, limited credit histories and informal financial records.
The programme was therefore designed to address those barriers by combining business skills with advisory support and a pathway towards formal banking relationships.
The initiative also seeks to help entrepreneurs build financially resilient and investment-ready enterprises capable of creating jobs, strengthening local value chains and contributing to Tanzania’s transition towards a low-carbon economy.
