A Study of Factors influencing entrepreneurial Performance of Petty Traders (Wamachinga)in Dar Es Salaam

Spendi, Ulimbakisya A. (2006) A Study of Factors influencing entrepreneurial Performance of Petty Traders (Wamachinga)in Dar Es Salaam. Masters thesis, The Open University of Tanzania.

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Abstract

There has been an increase in the number of people migrating to the cities looking for opportunities which are lacking in the rural areas. The migrants, mostly young men in their twenties, end up doing some menial and other blue collar jobs which suit their education and skills. One of the most prominent groups of migrants is the one comprising the petty traders popularly known as the Wamachinga. These are petty traders who mostly sell used clothes, used shoes, and other new house hold items which they either parade in the streets or sell on the roadside on make shift stalls or, very rarely, on semi permanent structures.This study sought to find out and establish the factors which influence their entrepreneurial performance and the results found were found to be a new insight for the researcher. The Wamachinga are mostly young unmarried men who have completed primary education but lack the basic business skills and the adequate resources. This lack of skills and resources impedes their entrepreneurial performance although their trade shows that it is generally growing. Very unfortunately, the government has shown very little interest in the Wamachinga and this hinders their fast growth despite that the sector is providing alternative livelihood and is a very good sourceof self employment.The Wamachinga have shown that their trade provides them with the basic needs and some of them support their families and take their children to school while others have even afforded to build houses from thisbusiness Although very few of them outgrows Umachingaism, it is the researcher's findings that this business has the potential of growing into small scale enterprises but this can only be possible if there is a concerted effort from the Government which can be done by formulating policies which favours the development of the Wamachinga. This could include the introduction of entrepreneurship training centers and the provision of soft loans to the Wamachinga and nurturing their growth with care. The introduction of the new Ministry for Planning, Economy and Empowerment which is intended to oversee the growth of small scale enter.prises is thought to be the right step in the right direction

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