Entrepreneurship Education and Business Practices. Experience of the University of Dar es Salaam Entrepreneurship p Centre (UDEC)

Transcription

1 Entrepreneurship Education and Business Practices Experience of the University of Dar es Salaam Entrepreneurship p Centre (UDEC) Dr. Goodluck Charles Deputy Director, UDEC Agenda Entrepreneurship education in Tanzania Overview of UDEC and its programs Entrepreneurship education and business practice Key lessons Concluding remarks 1

2 Entrepreneurship Education in Tanzania Tanzania is faced with the urgent need for a much higher economic growth raterate and an even more urgent solution to a vast unemployment problem Out of 800,000 1,000,000 graduates entering the labor market per year, only 40,000 access direct formal employment Education and curriculum experts have been involved in introducing entrepreneurship into the school curriculum Almost all major higher learning institutions in Tanzania are currently teaching entrepreneurship as a subject Entrepreneurship Education in Tanzania One of the key challenge is how to define entrepreneurship education In most higher h learning education it is seen as an education that facilitate trainees to start and run their own businesses At UDEC we see entrepreneurship education as the one that stimulates an entrepreneurial mindset and promote entrepreneurial behavior in any undertaking Our recent emphasis has therefore focused on mainstreaming entrepreneurial approach into teaching all subjects Of course, this includes teaching entrepreneurship and innovation 2

3 A Brief About UDEC UDEC was established in 1999 to; execute and co ordinate entrepreneurship p development endeavors, for the University Community and for the external market establish and run entrepreneurship courses for all students conduct TOT Courses for UDSM academic staff to mainstream entrepreneurship into their curriculum Support and expose students t interested t din the entrepreneurial career A Brief About UDEC From 2001, UDEC became a University wide Centre By 2004, UDEC had built a solid foundation of academic curricula, short term programs, teaching materials and research literature. In 2009, the Centre launched its Incubator facility that accommodates 14 BDS providers (8 full) Recently, we have embarked on more active role by developing long term and more courses for SMEs UDEC has developed its capacity to become a centre of excellence in private sector advocacy 3

4 Programs offered by UDEC 1. Long term courses i) Masters in Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (2003) producing 20 graduates every year ii) Postgraduate Diploma in Microfinance (2006) producing 15 graduates every year iii) Postgraduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship e eu pand Enterprise Development (2004) producing 15 graduates every year Programs offered by UDEC 2. Promotion of entrepreneurship within the University Community For Students Training the students on entrepreneurship and business plan development (supported by DANIDA, NORAD etc.) Innovation camps (with Business Academy AARHUS, Denmark) Business plan competitions (with the National Economic Empowerment, Sokoine University it etc.) Action Oriented Entrepreneurship Training (with Leuphana University, Germany) Counseling, coaching and linkage 4

5 Programs offered by UDEC For staff Developing pedagogical methods for enhancing students GETs; sensitizing students to the entrepreneurial career; Assisting students to develop business plans Training members of staff interested in entrepreneurship to enable them start and/or develop enterprise activities. Prepare and deliver exit programs for retirees of the University desiring to set up enterprises. Programs offered by UDEC 2.SMEs training, coaching and counseling i) Weekend Entrepreneurship ptraining Program targeting g start ups (36 hour program offered 3 4 times per year) ii) Certificate in entrepreneurial Management (96 hour program targeting growing enterprises, offered once per year) iii) Advanced Certificate in Entrepreneurial Management a 200 hour program targeting women under support of Goldman Sachs Bank, USA iv) Dissemination of SME programs across the country supported by DANIDA 5

6 Programs offered by UDEC v) A wide variety of customized SME training vi) Investor matching programs with Bid Networks (Holland) vii) UDEC Business Network (250 members) Programmes offered by UDEC 3. Business Incubation targeting business service providers at the start up stage. The services offered are; Office space Training Counseling and coaching Linking them with clients Working with incubatees to deliver UDEC programs 4. Support other institutions to mainstream entrepreneurship into their curriculum TOT for higher learning institutions and TIE Entrepreneurial management of schools Curricular review etc 6

7 Programs offered by UDEC 5. Advocacy and private sector development (8 years) Promoting the UDEC to become a centre of excellence Building the capacity of PSOs on advocacy Coaching and mentoring PSOs Building the capacity of other training institutions on advocacy Coordinator of a recently established collaboration of four Universities in Tanzania that aims to support the private sector advocacy Policy research and active support of the advocacy process Mainstreaming the advocacy into the MEED program Programs offered by UDEC 6. Consultancy and Contract Research Policy analysis, development, review, monitoring and evaluation Project design, monitoring and evaluation Development, review, monitoring and evaluation of training programs and materials 7

8 Entrepreneurship education and practice For Entrepreneurs UDEC has trained over 5000 entrepreneurs The cases studied das follow up of the impact of the training offered by the Centre indicate positive results The business plan competition has enable the majority of entrepreneurs to access capital A survey 300 clients trained dby UDEC by Kjetil and Bertil (2009, 2010) indicates that entrepreneurship training has a strong effect on performance of microentrepreneurs 8

9 AKM Glitters Ltd An Organic Chicken Farming Company, established in 2006 by Ms. Elizabeth Swai Resigned from a junior positions at the UN Food Program, she started with 250 chicken She saw the UDEC business competition advert on TV in 2007 She decided to participate p and won a trip to the Netherlands for learning She established a close relationship with UDEC AKM Glitters Ltd After attending the training course at UDEC in 2007 on business planning, she decided to formalize her business immediately after the course Attended an advanced course for women entrepreneurs at UDEC in She has received many other supports from UDEC Direct connection to sources of finance (loans) Supported to participate in business plan competition which was ultimately enabled her to get a loan of over US$ 200,000 Coaching and counseling Coaching and counseling Connection with potential clients An opportunity to participate in UDEC activities 9

10 AKM Glitters Ltd The business has grown from 4 to 15 permanent employees, 20 temporary staff and 50 outsources staff The Company offers coaching of farmers and they have reached 18,000 farmers in eight districts Annual sales have increased from US$ 30 to US$ 250 She has set up an organization structure They have acquired 600 acres of farm for a large scale organic chicken project What does Elizabeth say about Entrepreneurship Training? My business is growing because of capabilities I developed in writing a business planand and running the business from the UDEC training. The training helped me to increase sales tenfold and now I employ many more staff than the time I was attending the training at UDEC, God bless UDEC. I couldn t believe it because I did not know how to a write business plan bf before, I did not have the confidence but the training gave me those skills and I am thankful for that kwa kweli. 10

11 Shambani Graduates The Shambani Graduate Enterprise is a milk processing enterprise co owned by three graduates. Established in 2003, the enterprise's s graduates started with one milk supplier, initially processing 30 litres of milk per day. In 2007, Shambani participated in business plan competition organized by UDEC and won an award of Euros 30,000 Today the plant receives milk from over 200 Maasai cattle keepers in Morogoro Rural District; It has a processing capacity of 2,500 litres of milk per day The company createsemployment employment, promotes milk consumption and pioneers for graduates to create wealth and jobs through agricultural based entrepreneurship. Shambani Graduates It has grown from 2 to 25 employees and from 1 to over 200 suppliers. The turnover of the company is over $ 700,000 The owner works closely with UDEC and he participates in our as a guest speaker 11

12 Shambani Graduates What did Victor Got from UDEC Training on business planning and business skills International exposure and networks through BidNetworks Access to capital for expansion Other Success Stories Richland Consulting Company A successful UDEC Incubatee who is now a renowned provider of business development services in the country Mwandege Boys Secondary School A school that is becoming a role model in Tanzania after introducing youth character development program the owner has attended several programs at UDEC and he acknowledges the value gained BETTER LIFE for Tanzanians A microfinance Company with over 5000 clients that started in 2006 with a close support of UDEC 12

13 For students A number of students have reported a positive impact of the UDEC training Out of 129 students who were given $100 as a startup capital (loan) after training 50% were able to repay the loan and double the capital (2013) Over 80% express their intention to start their own businesses after the training (Yobu, 2011) A number of successful student enterprises exist in IT, service provision, processing etc. Growth of the Centre Key Lessons Autonomy and business like approach Development of the demand driven programs Strong leadership Growth of the private sector Connection with the industry Collaboration with the development partners Innovation of new programs Human resources from the business school 13

14 Key Lessons Model of service delivery (success) Use of incubatees Working with BDS providers Pool of UDEC associates Training design Training Coaching and counseling Linkage to finance Action oriented training Youth and gender Key Lessons Evidence indicates a considerable number of young graduates participating in entrepreneurship programs have inclination to start their own businesses and some have started (Olomi, 2009) Graduate business plan competition Women have shown positive results (80 % of women graduated din ACEBM program have shown growth) Women linked to access to finance have shown positive results The demand for women program is increasing 14

15 Key Lessons Issues on delivering entrepreneurship education at the University Sustainability Depends on personal initiatives Interference of the University management with affairs of the Entrepreneurship Centre Capacity to meet competing needs and demands The Centre has been too active in training i and the research capacity is yet to be fully developed The innovation centre is under the College of Engineering and there has not been an adequate collaboration Concluding Remarks For entrepreneurship Centre to grow and become sustainable; It needs to be entrepreneurial and acquire a business like model The University management should give the Centre the autonomy and flexibility required Linkage with the industry plays an important role Integrationof of research and outreach services is crucial Growing economies in LDCs create a great opportunity for the entrepreneurship centres 15

16 Thank you for Listening Q&A 16