Search results

The chapter evaluates trust-based and emotional intelligence (EI) approaches in Tanzania’s informal sector entrepreneurs, from mali kwa mali (barter trade), mali kauli (trust-based credit) to collective or technology-based upatu (revolving credit). It analyses both vertical and horizontal trust, and the depth of linkage to growth and sustainability of entrepreneurship in the informal sector.

The chapter invokes experiences of informal sector entrepreneurs including itinerant hawkers (machinga), food vendors (mama lishe or mama ntilie) and motorcycle drivers (bodaboda). The unique trust-based approaches mali kwa mali and mali kauli in entrepreneurial undertakings extends from colonial times to post economic liberalisation and contemporary Tanzania. Mali kauli, a creative traditional credit practice, is a unique approach that facilitates and sustains micro-retail sub-sector and livelihoods in urban and rural Tanzania. Although the objective remains business profitability, sustainability of entrepreneurial ventures does not depend on it alone. Trust and EI are well invested in these approaches.

The chapter draws from past work on managing in the informal economy to derive theoretical and practical implications, and how trust and EI plays a role in the Tanzanian informal entrepreneurial circles.

Despite the noticeable consequences of disruptive financial innovations, access to finance remains a major factor inhibiting the sustainable-growth potentials of young micro-entrepreneurs in informal settings. This study examines the determinants of financing options among micro-entrepreneurs in informal settings. Specifically, the study seeks to establish whether credit history, income, asset, gender, awareness and network capability have effects on formal and informal financing options among micro-entrepreneurs in informal settings.

This article uses the survey research design and administers a structured questionnaire among 300 purposively selected micro-entrepreneurs within the University of Lagos, Nigeria. Only 291 completed questionnaires are retrieved. This article also uses the multiple regression analysis to estimate the empirical model and test the research hypotheses respectively.

This article establishes that: (1) credit history and assets-based financing are significant determinants of formal financing options among young micro-entrepreneurs in informal settings, (2) gender and network capability are significant determinants of informal financing options among young micro-entrepreneurs in informal settings and (3) awareness is significant of both formal and informal financing options among young micro-entrepreneurs in informal settings.

This article examines the determinants of financing option among young micro-entrepreneurs in informal settings. Specifically, the study seeks to establish whether credit history income asset gender awareness and network capability have effects on formal and informal financing options among micro-entrepreneurs in informal settings.

The warehouse receipt system (WRS) is critical for farmers because it addresses agricultural market inefficiencies, provides credit access, reduces postharvest losses and increases access to profitable markets. However, its use and implementation across the commodity value chain remain relatively limited in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly among cash crop producers. This study examines cashew farmers' perceptions of WRS implementation and determinants of farmer participation.

A total of 153 cashew farmers from the Bono region of Ghana were sampled using a multistage sampling approach. Perception index analysis and Cragg's double hurdle model were used for the analysis.

The results revealed that farmers strongly perceived that WRS augmented credit and market access. In addition, farm size, household size, annual income, perception of collateral and higher selling price determined farmers' willingness to participate in WRS.

Despite the existence of other cashew farmers in Ghana, the study was limited to cashew farmers in Bono Region.

Despite the plethora of benefits of WRS, it is surprising that its implementation in the cashew subsector is geographically limited to East Africa. Thus, this study is the first to provide empirical evidence on the perception of WRS implementation and further examine farmers' willingness to participate in WRS in Ghana.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-12-2023-0946.

Mainland Tanzania has seen two decades of significant social policy reforms and transformations in its social and economic structures, whilst the country continues to grapple with persisting gender inequalities. This article examines Tanzania's social policy developments from a gender perspective. The authors analyse the level, reach and quality of social policy delivery to working-age women across the areas of health policy, social protection and employment policy during 2000–2021.

The article draws on qualitative research deploying the scoping review method. The data consist of diverse secondary materials, including academic publications, government policy documents, relevant statistics and other types of “grey” literature.

Tanzania has made significant advancements in the legal frameworks around welfare provision and has instituted increasingly gender-responsive government policy plans. The health and social protection sectors, in particular, have witnessed the introduction of large-scale measures expanding social policy implementation. However, social policy delivery remains two-tiered, with differences in provisions for women in the formal and informal sectors.

Social policy delivery and implementation have increased and diversified in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) during the new millennium, with a growing integration of gender-specific policy objectives. However, limited social policy scholarship has focused on the gendered effects of broader social policy models in SSA. The article remedies the concomitant knowledge gaps by examining various social policies and their impacts on working-age women in Mainland Tanzania. The authors also engage with the theoretical welfare regime literature and present an analytical framework for gender-sensitive assessment of emerging social policy models in the Global South.