Opportunity International EduFinance, Teach A Man To Fish, and Fundación Paraguaya Partner to Expand School Enterprise Challenge in Tanzania

March 10, 2017 // by Nathan Byrd

Opportunity International EduFinance, Teach A Man to Fish (TAMTF) and Fundación Paraguaya have agreed to a partnership targeting expansion of the School Enterprise Challenge to in Tanzania.  The partnership will bring business skills to schools, teachers and students, aiming to benefit at least 10,000 children with a strong focus on gender inclusivity.  

Following an initial outreach to 20 schools, the program will expand and enable children in up to 60 schools in Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Moshi to set up school enterprises aimed at both producing income and educating students in the start-up and management of small businesses.

“This new partnership will prepare students for life outside of their own school by instilling practical business management and entrepreneurship skills, while simultaneously supporting the continuation of their education within the school.”

Nathan Byrd, Head of Education Finance, Opportunity International

TAMTF is a global leader in helping schools to establish profit-making businesses within an educational setting, and Fundación Paraguaya is the lead implementer of the School Enterprise Challenge in Tanzania. These school enterprises serve both as learning platforms and as income-generating activities for schools.  Students learn valuable business and entrepreneurial skills, while the school has the ability to raise additional funds in a sustainable way.  Student involvement in the businesses helps to give them a better understanding of the relevance of their education to the workplace.  When they leave school, they leave better prepared to succeed in work, in further education, and in life.  Since 2007, TAMTF has supported over 2,000 schools around the world to launch educational, cross-functional enterprises.

“The School Enterprise Challenge is a powerful workforce development tool that interacts perfectly with our school-level engagements,” said Nathan Byrd, Head of the EduFinance group at Opportunity International.  “This new partnership will prepare students for life outside of their own school by instilling practical business management and entrepreneurship skills, while simultaneously supporting the continuation of their education within the school.”

Aimed at both primary and secondary schools, the partnership will target schools already benefitting from a School Improvement Loan from lending partner Opportunity Tanzania Limited, as well as an education quality intervention from Opportunity International.  This combination of increased resources, quality improvement support, and TAMTF’s expertise in workforce development presents a powerful combination for development.

“We’re excited to launch this partnership, which will substantially grow the School Enterprise Challenge footprint in Tanzania over the next eight months,” said James Love, Africa Regional Coordinator for TAMTF.  “The concept of pairing the program with a financial services component has the potential to see faster enterprise growth, as well as higher rates of student involvement.  We’re excited to see what happens.”

The School Enterprise Challenge is most active across East Africa, where approximately 700 schools currently compete to launch profitable businesses that also create positive social and environmental impact.  Click to learn more about the School Enterprise Challenge, Opportunity International, Fundación Paraguaya, and Teach A Man To Fish.