Browsing by Author "Merali, Mohamed Mohamed"

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    The contribution of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Tanzania: A case of Urban district–Zanzibar
    (Mzumbe University, 2014) Merali, Mohamed Mohamed
    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. viii These findings are very alarming to activists specialized in the SMEs development since the SMEs in the study area found to be lagged behind in the use of modern technologies and therefore, both public and private support is required to take corrective measures in order to help SMEs acquire maximum benefits from integrating ICTs in their businesses.