Empowerment funds plan to expand work
The deputy minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Policy, Parliament, Labour, Youth and People with Disabilities), Mr Anthony Mavunde (right), hands over a certificate to Presidential Trust Fund operations and marketing official David Maluila in appreciation for the fund’s effective participation in the basket funds exhibition in Dodoma at the weekend. With them is National Economic Empowerment Council executive director Beng’i Issa. PHOTO | THE CITIZEN CORRESPONDENT
What you need to know:
Tanzania has 19 economic empowerment funds that hold a total of Sh3 trillion.
Dodoma. The National Economic Empowerment Council (NEEC) is cooperating with other basket funds to expand their services.
Tanzania has 19 economic empowerment funds that hold a total of Sh3 trillion.
The funds have only reached out to just about one million people despite the fact that 12 million Tanzanians still lives on less than Sh1,300 a day.
NEEC executive secretary Beng’i Issa said during the close of the basket funds’ exhibition last week at Mashujaa grounds here that it’s high time that such funds educated the public on better ways of establishing productive projects.
“We aim at establishing a programme aimed educating ordinary people to establish small-scale projects to reduce poverty.”
She said the just ended exhibition was the council’s great success in its agenda of creating public awareness as ordinary people and politicians visited the venue and shared their experiences in the development process.
The public was educated loans procedures and requirements and general services offer by the funds.
She said various provident funds and small-scale traders took part in the show.
According to her, most locally made products meet standards.
She urged small-scale producers to be more diligent and creative in marketing to increase their earnings. The deputy minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Policy, Parliament, Labour, Youth and People with Disabilities), Mr Anthony Mavunde, said the spirit of self-reliance should be kept alive.
“These empowerment funds have been established so that citizens can use them in promoting their projects. They should stimulate agriculture, fisheries, forestry, construction, trade, tourism, manufacturing, transportation and mining, just to mention a few.”
He also told the funds to improve their service delivery to extricate people from poverty.
Presidential Trust Fund executive director Haigath Kitala said: “We give credit to specific groups of young people who received vocational training, women and people with disability.”
