Zanzibar govt is set to establish
SIDO outlets
The Zanzibar Minister for Industry, Trade
and Marketing, Hon. Nassor Mazrui
11th October 2012
The revolutionary government of Zanzibar has vowed to support its youth and women to achieve entrepreneurial skills through the establishment of Small Industries Development Organisations (SIDO) outlets.
The Zanzibar Minister for Industry, Trade and Marketing, Nassor Mazrui made the pledge in Dar es Salaam recently after paying a visit to one of SIDO’s workshop in Vingunguti.
The Minister, who was in a familiarization tour, also visited various plants and got a brief overview of their programs, of which he expressed sincere appreciation and acknowledgement of the organization’s works and potential in offering a practical alternative to the regular education system and serving as a net to catch the increasingly many dropouts or those who just never got the schooling opportunity.
As such the program is vital to the nation’s development as it increases the number of trained work force creating employment and increasing productivity with a wave of multiplier effects.
“I am very much pleased with the tour…,” said the minister after visiting a food processing and soap making plant. He then he acknowledged that “…Zanzibar has so many unemployed and untrained youth and women the entrepreneurial skills provided by this organization will help them to a great extent….”
Maryline Simba, an entrepreneur with soya products, thanked the organization witnessing that most of who received training have established profitable ventures and are enjoying the increasing income levels. She also had service suggestion for SIDO, advising them to embark on packaging as chain value addition for their products, conceding that the lack of packaging is one of the challenges undermining their commercial efforts.
“…there is shortages of packaging materials…” she said “…there is also need to increase the number of manufacturing firms that import packaging materials…” and according to her “…SIDO is the sole importer of all packaging materials for food and food products in the entire country....”
It is her opinion that Tanzanian manufacturers fail to access foreign markets due to poor packaging technology which also hinders the development of the industry, a view that many a producer agree with.
CHANZO: THE GUARDIAN
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