The momentum for hosting the first Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW)
2012 in Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar simultaneously from November 12
to 18, 2012 is getting higher, with organizations and institutions
coming out in support of the event. The event is held under the theme
“Amsha Uwezo Wako”Swahili for ‘Awaken Your Potential’ and official
hosts Zanzibar Association for Youth Education and Empowerment (ZAYEE)
seek to mobilize millions of Tanzanian youth to embrace
entrepreneurship by introducing initiatives such as the GEW Tanzania
with solid partnerships.
The International Labor Organization (ILO), through its Youth
Entrepreneurship Facility and University of Dar es Salaam Business
school through the University of Dar es Salaam Entrepreneurship Centre
(UDEC) have pledged their support to ZAYEE and GEW Tanzania as they
recognize that building strong partnerships and creating
entrepreneurship culture is important for a sustained economic growth
in Tanzania.
Commending the ILO and UDEC, Mr. Omar Said Shaaban, the Vice-Chairman
and co-founder of ZAYEE said that the endorsement will go a long way
to help in awareness creation for the place of youth entrepreneurship
in national development as the future of Tanzania’s economy would be
driven by innovations, job creators and today’s start-ups.
Jealous Chirove, Chief Technical Advisor of the Youth Entrepreneurship
Facility explained that one of the main pillars of the project is to
integrate entrepreneurship education within the curriculum of the
education system in Tanzania. In line with that, the ILO is working
together with the Ministry of Education, Tanzania Institute of
Education and other stakeholders to achieve this for primary and
secondary schools beginning in 2013. ‘Only then, can we inculcate the
culture of entrepreneurship in a more systematic way, which will
produce entrepreneurs not necessarily in the short term, but in the
medium to long term, and help to change attitudes and perceptions
towards entrepreneurship among your young people’, he said.
Dr. Mariam Nchimbi said that any effort towards youth entrepreneurship
is of interest to UDEC as it is in its mission. UDEC’s role in the
internal market of students is guided by two key objectives:
Developing General Enterprising Tendencies (GETs) among all students
and Motivating students to choose entrepreneurship as a career. Thus
the Centre has a responsibility of promoting GETs among students in
order to change the mindset of graduates to be more enterprising so as
to increase their chances of being employed (including self
employment). The center also sensitizes students to choose
self-employment as a career and empower them to succeed therein. In
most cases UDEC works with youth within the university and outside
University. UDEC also believes that the only way to succeed is to have
enterprise curricular from pre-primary to higher education so as to
develop youth with employable skills
In addition to supporting GEW Tanzania as prominent partners of ZAYEE
in both the mainland and Zanzibar, ILO will be providing a
complimentary venue at its very own Ali Ibrahim Conference Hall in Dar
es Salaam and UDEC will share their expertise with participants by
conducting entrepreneurship courses during the week in both cities.
“GEW is very important for Tanzania,” added Mr. Shaaban. “It is all
about encouraging Tanzanians to awaken their potentials and drive
economic growth for better lives of our people through
entrepreneurship. Every young Tanzanian is potentially an
entrepreneur, a dream that can be realised.”
Mr. Shaaban has called on more organisations to sponsor GEW Tanzania
as it is a unique initiative that will offeryoung aspiring
entrepreneurs a unique opportunity to discover their potential through
educational programs, networking, collaborating with mentors and
investors. “This event will feature prominent entrepreneurs that will
speak and share their successes and experiences in order to inspire
the youth and show them the way forward,” he added.
For more information about GEW Tanzania visit www.gewtanzania.org
Editor’s Note:
About “The Host” ZAYEE
The host of the début GEW Tanzania is the Zanzibar Association for
Youth Education and Empowerment (ZAYEE), a non-profit organisation
launched in June 2010. ZAYEE\’s objective is to enhance the potential
and talent of Tanzania\’s youth through initiatives that empower
education and promote entrepreneurship. Partnering with non-profit,
community service organisations, government departments and the
private sector, ZAYEE mobilizes resources to facilitate youth
engagement in wealth creation for development. Through ZAYEE,
Tanzania\’s youth have access to consultation, counselling, educational
workshops, training, conferences and seminars and symposiums. ZAYEE is
managed by an Executive Committee of dynamic young professionals and
comprises of 58 members. For more information on ZAYEE visit:
www.zayee.org or Email your queries to: info@zayee.org
About International Labor Organization (ILO)
The International Labour Organization is a specialized agency of the
United Nations system, which focuses on employment and labour issues.
In Tanzania, and as part of the One UN, ILO participates in the
economic cluster to among other things advance the Decent Work Agenda.
One of the foure pillars of the decent work is employment, under which
ILO works is working with constituents to facilitate creation of more
and better jobs that provide adequate social security, basic labour
standards and social dialogue to resolve work place issues.
About University of Dar es Salaam Entrepreneurship Centre (UDEC)
The University of Dar es Salaam Entrepreneurship Centre (UDEC) is a
center within the university of Dar es Salaam Business School (UDBS)
that was established in 1999. Its mission is to facilitate the
development of entrepreneurial capacity in Tanzania. This is done by
development and dissemination of new capacity-building methodologies
and products for enterprise and entrepreneurship development. It
operates with at least 20 highly trained and experienced researchers,
consultants and trainers drawn from the University and the industry.
The facilitators’ constantly interact with small and medium
enterprises, their operators and institutions that support them
through research, training, consultancy, counseling and forums and
this has enabled them to acquire extensive knowledge of the
functioning, opportunities and challenges facing the SME sector. UDEC
has two distinct markets, internal market (students and staff) aiming
and the external market of SMEs and all stakeholders involved in SME
and Entrepreneurship Development. UDEC has extensive experience in
short term as well as long term antrepreneurship training.
About Global Entrepreneurship Week
During one week each November, thousands of activities around the
world inspire millions to engage in entrepreneurial action while
connecting them to potential mentors, collaborators and investors. In
three short years, Global Entrepreneurship Week has expanded to over
120 countries—empowering nearly 20 million people through 95,000
activities. Powered by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the
initiative is supported by dozens of world leaders and a growing
network of 24,000 partner organizations. For more information, visit
www.unleashingideas.org, and follow @unleashingideason Twitter.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Zanzibar Association for Youth Education and Empowerment (ZAYEE)
Contact Person: ZAYEE Vice Chairperson, Mr Omar Said Shaaban
Telephone: 0772 251999/ 0715 651999 / 0784 251999
Email: media@gewtanzania.org
Web site address: www.gewtanzania.org