allAfrica.com: Tanzania: Top Business Leaders and NGOs Unite to Launch Country's First National Business Plan Competition (Page 1 of 2)

Tanzania: Top Business Leaders and NGOs Unite to Launch Country's First National Business Plan Competition

Today at the TED Global Conference being held in Arusha, His Excellency, President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, and Larry Brilliant, Executive Director of Google.org, joined the leadership of TechnoServe to announce Tanzania's first national Business Plan Competition (BPC). The BPC, known as Believe Begin Become, will be launched nationwide on June 12th 2007 in Dar es Salaam. Funded by Google.org (the philanthropic arm of Google) and designed, managed and executed by TechnoServe (a development organization that supports entrepreneurs to create viable and sustainable businesses within competitive industries in developing countries), this pioneering initiative is a proven approach to promote private sector development, capacity-building among entrepreneurs and the empowerment of young Tanzanians to build a sustainable and prosperous future.

Believe Begin Become will identify entrepreneurial men and women in Tanzania and equip them with the tools and networks necessary to build competitive, sustainable small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that will accelerate economic growth and reduce poverty.

The business plan competition will solicit innovative business ideas and provide training, mentoring and business development assistance to promising entrepreneurs. More than 500 entrants are expected; the most promising 250 applicants will be invited to attend a seminar on business plan development. Sixty of these submissions will be selected to advance to a seven week intensive business development training as well as special one-on-one consulting sessions with industry experts who will help applicants prepare comprehensive draft business plans.

Ten winners will receive seed capital to help launch or expand their businesses. Prizes range from $8,000-20,000 in seed capital for the top 10 winners. Equally important, the top twenty finalists will each receive "aftercare" business development services worth $10,000 to ensure that they have the support and tools necessary to turn their business plans into self-sustaining and profitable businesses.

The program's web site (www.believe-begin-become.com) debuted on May 24, 2007. Applications will be accepted online and at TechnoServe offices across the country (in Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Mbeya, Mbinga, Mtwara, Mufindi, Songea) when the program launches on the 12th of June.

The competition is supported by a number of highly successful Tanzanian entrepreneurs. The Organizing Committee members, who provide technical assistance and support, are: Saada Mufuruki, Founder and Managing Director of M&M Communications; Joseph Kusaga, Founder and Managing Director of Cloud FM; Deus Manyenye, Head of Retail Performance- Barclays Bank Tanzania; Khalaf Rashid, Founder and Managing Director of MacMillians Publishing; Protase Ishengoma, Managing Partner of Immma Advocates; Olive Luena, CEO of Tanzania Gatsby Trust; David Bulengo, Founder and Managing Director of Upper Zonal Trading; and Alex Mkindi, Deputy Country Director of TechnoServe Tanzania.

"The network of professionals and businessmen involved with the BPC will allow a new generation of young entrepreneurs the chance to learn from the past and to create wonderful business opportunities," says David Bulengo, "Tanzanians have a lot of entrepreneurial talent."

The program will tap the entrepreneurial spirit of the Tanzanian population and is aligned with the objectives of Tanzania's National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty by enhancing "life skills and entrepreneurship training for rural populations, particularly women and youth." All ideas are welcome and applicants will be sorted into four industry categories - agri-business and processing, manufacturing, services, and information and communication technology - in order to tailor their training, mentoring, and network opportunities.

"The BPC will stimulate creative entrepreneurial thinking among the diverse Tanzanian entrepreneurs who have been thinking about doing business but did not have courage or plan to start the business. Tanzanians do have good business ideas but the problem has been to turn these ideas into sustainable businesses," says Alex Mkindi, "The BPC will show the way."

There is a feeling among entrepreneurs that private sector development must be a joint effort for everyone involved. "SMEs need a helping hand from financial institutions, NGOs, Parastatals and the government," says Deus Manyenye, "This is the time to act; we need more initiatives like Believe Begin Become in the country to provide long-awaited support for SMEs."

TechnoServe has been working in Tanzania since 1990. This development organization has several ongoing projects in Tanzania providing support and assistance to SMEs all over the country. Kilicafe, a market driven farmer business association encompassing 10,000 coffee growers across Tanzania, has received support from TechnoServe since its inception in 2001, and revenues are expected to grow by more than $20 million over the next decade.

Believe Begin Become is modeled on other successful business plan competitions that TechnoServe has implemented in Central America and is also rolling out elsewhere in Africa, including Ghana, Swaziland, Kenya and South Africa. Since debuting in El Salvador in 2002, these competitions have helped thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs to create or expand hundreds of businesses.

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