How youth and green financing is shaping Tanzania’s Vision 2050

Dar es Salaam. The small and medium enterprises (SME) sector in Tanzania accounts for more than 90 percent of businesses, employs over five million people, and contributes roughly 27 percent –35 percent of GDP.

However, despite this economic significance, the sector is highly informal, with a large share of micro and small enterprises lacking formal registration, collateral or financial records that banks typically require.

As a result, access to credit has remained a challenge for many years, leading to the failure of many SMEs. In efforts to shore up performance, the private sector has continued to provide financial backing through various initiatives, with the impact of such financial push seen in the lives touched and transformed.

One such initiative is the Go Green Imbeju Programme, which targets women, youth and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

 It is emerging as a central pillar in Tanzania’s strategy to build human capital, expand entrepreneurship and accelerate inclusive growth under Development Vision 2050.

Speaking in an interview, Tanzania’s Minister for Planning and Investment, Kitila Mkumbo, said the initiative directly responds to the two biggest obstacles facing young entrepreneurs in Tanzania: lack of access to capital and inadequate skills.

“For many years, Tanzanian youth have faced two major challenges when they try to start businesses. One is access to capital, and the other is limited skills,” Prof Mkumbo said. “What the Go Green with Imbeju Programme does is to provide a simplified and structured mechanism that enables young people to access finance for MSMEs and startups.”

Capital access and financial literacy at the core

The Imbeju programme combines affordable financing with structured training, particularly in financial literacy, an area the minister said had long been overlooked.

“For a long time, we took financial literacy for granted, assuming everyone automatically knows how to manage money,” he said.

“We never treated it as a discipline on its own. That is why financial literacy is a core component of this programme.”

Under the financing structure, CRDB Bank Foundation has committed about $200 million (approximately Sh500 billion), while the government, under President Samia Suluhu Hassan, is contributing an additional Sh200 billion to support youth and women-led enterprises.

Climate Fund

The programme is also backed by the Green Climate Fund, which has committed $100 million, with CRDB Bank matching the amount.

Prof Mkumbo described the initiative as a strong example of how blended finance can unlock growth while advancing national development goals.

“We commend CRDB Foundation for this initiative,” he said. “The government intends to scale up similar programmes to ensure young people not only access capital, but also acquire the skills necessary to sustain their businesses.”

Green innovation and low-carbon growth

Green innovation is a defining feature of the Imbeju Programme, aligning closely with Tanzania’s commitment to sustainable development and low-carbon growth under Vision 2050.

According to Prof Mkumbo, clean energy, particularly clean cooking solutions, is a priority area.

“We want Tanzanians to move towards clean cooking energy, which is one of President Samia’s flagship initiatives,” he said.

Agriculture is another key focus, especially climate-smart interventions such as irrigation systems, including drip irrigation, which improve productivity while conserving water.

“These areas blend very well with government development priorities,” he said. “Imbeju programme is structured in a way that it directly contributes to Vision 2050 and supports our broader transition to a green and resilient economy.”

The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Tanzania, Daniel Sillo, said Parliament has established a strong legal foundation to support environmental protection and the growth of the green economy, adding that the programme “represents a practical example of aligning policy, capital and youth innovation.”

Closing the skills-to-market gap

Beyond financing, the minister emphasised that training, mentorship and workplace exposure are critical to addressing Tanzania’s persistent skills-to-market mismatch.

He said that the government is finalising a startup policy and law, which will formally recognise startups that were previously treated as part of the informal economy.

“We are also strengthening mentorship and apprenticeship programmes,” Prof Mkumbo said.

“In addition, we are preparing a law that will require all industries, whether in agriculture, manufacturing or services, to provide internship programmes.”

Such reforms, he said, would ensure graduates acquire practical skills that match labour market needs. “We often blame universities when graduates lack employable skills,” he said. “But universities educate; they do not train. Training must be done by employers. That is why close collaboration between universities and industry is essential—they must complement each other.”

A Vision 2050 instrument

Taken together, the Go Green Imbeju Programme represents more than a financing initiative. It is a policy instrument designed to translate Vision 2050 into action, by expanding access to capital, embedding green innovation, strengthening skills development and positioning Tanzania’s youth and women as drivers of long-term economic transformation.

As Prof Mkumbo put it: “If we want sustainable growth, we must invest in people, skills and productive enterprises. That is exactly what Imbeju is doing.”