 Curio
shop operators grasping business opportunities
by Vincent Obiro Orute
Like many other school leavers, 28-year-old Paul Mlinga completed Form Six which
he thought allowed a broad choice.
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Paul Mlinga at his
curio shop along Goliondoi Road in Arusha. |
'I wanted to work either with non governmental organisation
sector or with a multinational company and did not see any possible impediment
in having the choices', he says.
But that was before hitting the road and several months and many unanswered job
applications later, Mlinga knew that he had graduated into the ranks of
Tanzania's unemployed and had to start thinking of survival.
He remembers the humble beginning when he started his small curio shop along
Goliondoi Road in Arusha working in a tiny office selling wood carvings to
tourists. Now six years later, things have started looking up for the
28-year-old Mlinga and is undoubtedly one of the most inspirational success
stories in curio business.
After learning trading the hard way, Mlinga has now taken to curio business like
a duck to water. His meteoric rise in curio business is a reflection of the boom
in small businesses, that have provided job opportunities to millions of
Tanzanians like him and several others who fell on hard times due to high
unemployment rate or through mass retrenchments in government and private
sector. By current estimates, there are 3.5 million Tanzanians whose livelihoods
depend on small businesses, most of them traders at all levels.
The concept of exhibition centres which have sprout in most major urban centres
is largely credited for the boom in small business, attracting tens of thousands
of youth who ventured into small businesses and providing shop facilities to
people who would otherwise be hawkers.
Much of the curio business in the outfitting is targeting tourists looking
mostly for African wood carvings.
Paul Mlinga started his curio business in 1999 after completing Form Four. His
initial customers were contacts through his immediate school mates who work as
tour guides in tour companies in Arusha town.
'My former school mates who work as tour guides in Arusha direct tourists to my
curio shop', he said. 'Once they buy items from my shop, my clients also direct
their friends to my shop', he adds.
The sense of enterprise has drawn acclaim even from foreigners.
US motivated speaker, Willie Jones during a visit to Kenya in 2002 while
addressing staffers and employers on issues related to work place and
entrepreneurship, was particularly impressed by the survival instincts by most
Africans.
'Africans do not seem to loose hope and tend to believe that they can manage by
working harder and cutting edges, despite difficult economic situations they
face. AI think this has helped to weld the continent together and avert the
possibility of people rioting in the streets over issues of basic survival',
said Jones.
Small trading is not a new concept in Africa, the only difference this time is
that it is attracting well educated youthful investors with more than one
university degree who see it as the only option for survival and better career
prospects for self-development.
For governments in Africa it is a sure fine way of dealing with unemployment
situation.
The demand for business English courses is also up which has created another
business avenue for unemployed graduate teachers in Africa and one of the most
cited attribute is the ability to learn foreign languages and with West Africa
proving a major destination, many are now taking up French language courses.
But even as more small traders seek a livelihood in small business, there is a
view that most of the businesses have not grown and have remained at the same
level over the years.
This was noted in a survey for small business in African commissioned by the
European commission last year which notes that most of those getting into small
business in Africa are only doing so as an alternative to employment and would
gladly join salaried employment if they could find jobs.
'They are only in small business because they can not find jobs', says the
study. 'They are happy to just survive and pay their monthly bills in the hope
that a better job comes their way', says the report.
The report further says that the delude of small business in Africa is therefore
just a reflection of the continent's failed economy and not necessarily of
people with a strong business inclination or orientation.
'Give them better jobs today and they will all abandon their businesses and pick
up the jobs offered', adds the reports.
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