Browsing by Author "Renatus, Deogratias"

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    SMES growth challenges in Mwanza city: Evidence from food industry
    (Mzumbe University, 2015) Renatus, Deogratias
    Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Mwanza are very important to economic growth. They have a significant effect on employment and economy of the country. The enterprise structure is mainly dominated by micro enterprises and the growth intensity is steady but still at a low level. Since SMEs are important contributors to economic development, it is therefore relevant to study challenges hindering their potential growth. These challenges are looked from two different perspectives; external and internal challenges which have an impact on the growth of SMEs. This research is an evidence of four SMEs (FURAHA, NDIYO, KUKU POA and SIMBA) in food industry at Mwanza city, and together with previous literature a conclusion of internal and external challenges influencing their growth can be reached. The primary data was collected through both qualitative (interviews) and quantitative (questionnaire) approaches with operators of the selected SMEs. The data was analyzed by using a Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Specifically, descriptive statistics were taken from this tool. Descriptive analysis was used to reduce the data into a summary format by tabulation and measure of central tendency. The findings of the research reveal that there are a number of significant factors affecting SMEs growth. The major factors being financial and politico-legal factors followed by working premises, entrepreneurial factors, management, technological, marketing and infrastructural factors. They also speculate the reasons to why some of the SMEs in food industry grow while others do not. The study suggests that, The Bank of Tanzania should review the interest rates on loan because it seems to be very high; otherwise the government should find amicable solutions either to subsidize the SMEs with some sort of incentives. To make the selected SMEs competitive and profitable, increasing the capacity and skill of the operators through continuous trainings, experience sharing from successful enterprises, and provision of advice and consultancy are crucial. Moreover, improved provision of necessary infrastructure and enabling the environment for business operations is generally an imperative.