Small scale urban entreprises [i.e. enterprises] in Tanzania : results from a 1991 survey

This paper presents the results of a 1991 survey of 556 small firms in Arusha, Mbeya, Dodoma, Mwanza, and Dar-es-Salaam -- cities considered representative of the country"s urban sector. Following an introduction, Section 2 describes the survey methodology. Section 3 outlines the major characteristics of enterprises and their owners while Section 4 describes the business environment within which small firms operate. Section 5 characterizes the workers employed by small enterprises in terms of familial relationship, sex, firm size, sector, region, and hourly wage patterns. An economic profile of Tanzanian small firms is presented in Section 6, while Section 7 discusses the effectiveness of government programs that support small firms. Section 8 presents firm owners" perceptions of economic prospects and of constraints to small firm expansion. Most small firms are individually or family owned and employ no more than two workers. There are more unskilled than skilled workers in the sector. Generally, the small enterprises are quite profitable and willing to expand, the major constraint being nonavailability of credit and working capital.