Tanzanians have been urged to embrace and purchase Tanzanian made products in order to expand employment opportunities and the country’s economy.
 
This was said on Wednesday in Dar es Salaam by an Susan Peter, an entrepreneur from Care International through its Tanzania women and girls empowerment (WAGE) programme .
She said Tanzanians have created a culture portraying that foreign products have higher quality than those produced within the country.

Peter, who is a representative of Usengwile group in Mburahati in Dar es Salaam, said the culture is ruining entrepreneurs of the reliable market for the local products they produce.

“In fact our products are of high quality only that some Tanzanians prefer buying foreign goods thinking that they are of better quality than those produced here,” she said.
She said what they ask Tanzanians to do is to change the mindset and start looking at the goods produced in the country as the best. This would increase job opportunities as well as economic growth, she said.

For her part, Rahma Omar Ally called on government leaders to encourage wananchi to buy products made in the country.
She asked the government, Care International and stakeholders to support entrepreneurs by empowering them and setting special areas for their businesses.

The WAGE programme officer, Anna Mwigune said her organisation has been assisting entrepreneurs especially women and girls in areas of education, finance and other services to boost them economically.

 She said since the programmes started five years ago, the quality of products made by entrepreneurs has been increasing day after day enabling them to generate income for their upkeeps.

“We are really proud of the efforts done by entrepreneurs in groups. Today there are those exporting their products abroad and others are expected to start doing so soon,” said Mwigune.
Care Tanzania's and WAGE Programme’s goal is social and economic empowerment of marginalised women and girls.

The programme design is deliberately linked to Care Tanzania's strategic focus on governance as a key impediment to equitable and effective development.