A new haven for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) has been created by the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE).
Dubbed the “Endeleza Project”, the new acceleration segment is a programme set to support SME’s get launched, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s commercial capital.
The Endeleza Project (which is also an extension and part of DSE Enterprise Acceleration Programme, DEAP) is a designated non-trading segment at the DSE (website) strictly targeted at profiling and visibility enhancement for qualifying SME’s, according to information from DSE.
As the SMEs struggle with various challenges to succeed, the newly launched programme aims at assisting the SMEs address various challenges they face especially accessing necessary funds for growth.
The programme has so far managed to bring on board at least eight companies, such as Selcom Paytech Limited, Techno Image Ltd, AKM Glitters Company, financial institutions such as FINCA Microfinance, Victoria Finance PLC, AML Finance and Reni International Company Limited.
Endeleza which is also a Swahili literal term for “prolong” has been fitted with an ultimate objective which is qualifying SMEs with access to potential private capital from investors and financiers and other actors across the line such as angel investors, venture capital funds, private equity funds, banks and other financial institutions.
DSE executive officer, Moremi Marwa, has highlighted several issues about the launched programme.
He said, “through the programme, qualified SMEs have also received coaching on strategic planning, bookkeeping and accounting, administration, human resource as well as financial management”, according to information from The Citizen.
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Endeleza brings more to the table, as it builds capacities for sustainable business management and governance for “SME owners and managers to enable implementation of their aspiring growth and development. This is to enable and empower them with skills for businesses proficient, hence become more attractive to different private capital providers and financiers” according to DSE.
According to information from DSE, Participants in the DEAP programme, and others can apply to be admitted to the ENDELEZA Project, provided they have been in operations for at least three years, possess audited accounts for three years, they have an effective/existence of a Board of Directors and that they also have existing Strategic Business Plans and indications of a strong desire/ambition to grow.
Further down the line, the acting chief executive officer of the Capital Markets and Securities Authority, Nicodemus Mkama, found Endeleza to be a programme that brings a win-win scenario to the table for both investors and SMEs.
“It is our hope that the SMEs would utilise the investment opportunities provided by the DSE and at the same time, supporting angel investors and venture capital firms to invest in the SMEs. It is also expected that it would influence diaspora and youth participation into the capital markets,” the DSE chief said, as quoted by The Citizen.
On the same note, companies on the Endeleza platform highlighted their views on the programme, from the multi-products dealing company AKM to Raha beverages company.
“Our utmost plan is to list at the stock market and this platform is very useful. We believe we will meet all the requirements as required for a company to go public, including transparency of financial issues among others,” said the managing director for, poultry business, AKM Glitters Company Limited, Ms Elizabeth Swai.
“We will not be in a rush because we also have to make sure that we abide by all the other requirements as required by the DSE and the CMSA and that is why we have given ourselves five years to be where we want to be,” Raha Beverages Company board chairman Adolf Olomi said.
Endeleza offers a handful of opportunities to SMEs in Tanzania, including building their roadmap to healthy and long-term corporate sustainability, developing access to capital markets, and visibility to investors and financiers to mention a few.
