Profitable Business Ideas in Tanzania 2017

PROFITABLE BUSINESS IN TANZANIA 2017

Tanzania to large extent has completed its transition period from state economy to a market economy; however, the government retains the ownership in some sectors such as telecommunications, banking, energy, and mining. Policy makers in Tanzania have tried to improve the country’s economy regulatory environment for business. Also, the economy of the country has been sustainable in 2017 by achieving an impressive high growth rates in-terms of GDP averaging 6-7%. You can make profits by building profitable businesses in Tanzania in many sectors and with any amount of money you have.

If you have got capital and you are looking to investing in the Tanzania, the following are 8 areas where you should consider investing and make a profit; 

1.    Leather Industry

There are few finished leather products and footwear manufacturers in the country who most of them focus on tourists market thereby making the product more scarce and hence sold at high price.  For example, the currently leather processing plants total capacity is estimated to be 73.9 million square feet that produces only 34.3 million square feet which is equal to 46.4% of the installed capacity. So investing on this business could be a good venture.

2.    Recruitment Agency

Tanzania like any other developing country, unemployment has been a big problem and its ratio is increasing. And one of the biggest issue facing investors who are start businesses in Tanzania is how to find the best employees who has required competencies, experience, and who can be relied for business performance. To most of companies, the employee turnover rate has been high as they have been failing to hire the right employees due to few professional head hunters and job agencies with specialized skills available. If you have the required skills, this could be one of the best opportunity to pursue in Tanzania as recruitment agency does not require huge investment.

3.    Agribusiness

The economy of Tanzania depends on agriculture; which accounts for an average of 29 percent of GDP, provides 85% of exports, employs about 65% of the work force, and accounts for almost 7% of government expenditures. Industrialization in Tanzania is mainly focused in the processing of agricultural foods. Tanzania has a vision 2025, which aims at having at least 40% of the GDP contributed by the manufacturing sector by 2025. The country’s agriculture sector is notable for the cultivation of crops like corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, beans, bananas, millet, tobacco, coffee, tea and cotton etc. According to the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO), 70 percent of caloric intake requirements of low and middle-income households are met by street food. Tanzania is blessed with diverse climate zones, fertile land, and water to support its agriculture. However, Tanzania’s commercial-scale farming cannot keep up with growing demand. Agribusiness in Tanzania could be untapped goldmine.

4.    Education

Access of education at primary level in Tanzania is almost universal and the primary completion rate is around 90%. The fee free primary and secondary education policy has had a positive impact by boosting both access and retention. However, the education sector in Tanzania is facing some challenges which include poor access to quality education and low access to secondary and higher education which makes Tanzania’s human talents to be one of its underexplored assets. Currently, a couple of interesting businesses and initiatives are achieving remarkable successes as they tackle Tanzania’s education problems uncompromisingly. If you have a good model, this could be an interesting business.

5.    IT support services

Currently IT services is a booming business and if you are an expert in IT you can start you own business of providing IT support and services.

6.    Apps and Online Services

In Tanzania like any other developing country in Africa, there is a digital revolution taking over. The digital economy is growing very fast and there is almost an app or online service for anything you want. These days many services in Tanzania have an app or are going online; for example, if you are looking for a taxi in Dar es Salaam there is UBER, JUMIA for shopping, also there is NMB, EQUITY, CRDB etc for mobile money. This could be one of the top Tanzania business Opportunities.

7.    Tour or Travel planning

If you have a good geographical knowledge and contacts, this could be another great business idea for you and you should consider starting your own Travels and Tourism Company. Tanzania is a major tourist destination in Africa is the leading sector in terms of foreign exchange earnings. It is estimated to be responsible for more than 10 percent of the country’s labor force. The industry contributes more than US$2billion to the Tanzania’s economy from 1,284,279 tourists who visited the country in 2016. Presently, the travel and tourism industry is considered to be the fastest growing sector in Tanzania, in 2017 the revenues from the tourism industry are projected to be at US$ 2.69billion which goes hand in hand with the estimated increase in the absolute arrival numbers of 1.39m tourists. The industry is still very much open to investors.

8.    African Art

In Tanzania there is inadequate access to arts and cultural activities for young people. However, both antique and contemporary works of African art are attracting high prices in the markets.

The writer is a business planner, writer and consultant found through email:  vtconsult17@gmail.com, Mobile: +255683517251.