CAPACITY OF TANZANIAN MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (MMSES) IN TAPPING THE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN THE EAST
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Abstract
After its collapse in 1977, the East African Community was revived again in 1999 with theaim of, among other things, elimination of trade barriers and increase trade volume between the member states. The impact of economic integration on the economic development and entrepreneurship prosperity in Tanzania cannot be underestimated owing to theincome and employment opportunities created by SMEs. However, the extent to which SMEs in Tanzania are capable of benefiting from the business opportunities associated with the EAC are virtually unclear. Therefore, this paper aims at gaining a better understanding of the ways in which SMEs are capable of taking advantage of the EAC to enhance various entrepreneurship activities. The paper identifies challenges faced by the SMES and explores the efforts the government and other stakeholders have made so far in creating the environment for supporting the SMEs to fully exploit available opportunities. The study employs mostly qualitative analysis techniques wherebyin-depth interviews were conducted among twenty (20) business people and conducted among five (5) government officials. Secondary datawere used in the study to implement the empirical research design and complimenting field results. Summaries from transcribed data were used to establish the study findings.
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