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It is undeniable that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can play a
greater role in the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as revealed by
many scholars in the Entrepreneurship field. Yet, more studies are to be done in order to
uncover deep relationship between these two variables. This study seeks to find out the
contribution that ICTs have to the growth of SMEs in Tanzania with a special case of the
Urban district of Zanzibar.
The study was basically attempting to answers three questions. The first question based
on finding out the most suitable and available ICT devices and applications to most
Tanzanian SMEs. The second question was about exploring the relationship and level of
contribution ICTs provide to the business growth. The last question aimed at finding out
various obstructions to the ICT usage by the SMEs.
The study was targeted to the Micro, Small and Medium enterprises in the respective
district that are in use of one or more types of ICT devices and applications. Of which
75% of the respondents participated in the study with fair representation plus four Key
Informants (KI) from Zanzibar Chamber of Commerce, Zanzibar Labor Commission,
Zanzibar Youth Vision Center and the Ministry of Trade, Zanzibar, one member from in
each institution.
Study findings have shown that mobile phone, computer and the CCTV camera are the
most available devices, while internet, websites, Microsoft office applications and
statistical applications are the most available applications in the study area. The existing
relationship between ICTs usage and the SMEs’ growth found to be very high to the
extent that majority of respondents agreed on the greater contribution of ICTs to the
growth of their businesses.
However, there are some barriers hindering the effective use of ICTs as a growth tool to
many enterprises. Among the most mentioned barriers are; financial constraints, lack of
awareness of the most modern devices and application, lack of knowledge on how to use
some of the ICT technologies, ICTs operational costs and poor network services from
service providers. |
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