Her Initiative in collaboration with The Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands has launched the report of the DigiMali project. This event was done on 24th February 2022, at Slipway Hotel Masaki. The event was honored by the attendance of Honorable Janet Betty a special sit member of parliament of Dar es salaam, Netherlands Embassy ambassador, The Executive director Lydia Charles Moyo and stakeholders from various institutions and organizations.
DigiMali (Digitali na Mjasiriamali) is a project which bears two words that means Digital and the entrepreneur. The aim of this project was to enhance the Digital skills of 100 youth and women entrepreneurs in Tanzania who will then make a ToT reach out to 2400 youth and women entrepreneurs in a one-year period.
The program took three months with the cycle of training and mentorship sessions from November 2021 to February 2022. The training sessions were online and the entrepreneurs were taught financial literacy and digital marketing in order to increase their knowledge of digital financing and digital marketing. After the online training, physical mentorship sessions followed and some of the beneficiaries were able to meet their mentors and discuss the crucial things that were shared during online sessions. The entrepreneurs had the chance to express their challenges physically.
The aim of the event was to launch a report on the three months of implementation of the DigiMali project. The project has covered 14 different regions in Tanzania with a total of 1293 direct and indirect beneficiaries, these 1293 beneficiaries have acquired knowledge on how to manage the market and finances in the digital economy. Different skills were shared during the DigiMali implementation season including content creation, digital finance management, customer services, social media account security, and the use of software programs to make attractive posters and videos as a part of content.
During the launch, there was a series of events this including speeches from trainers, trainees, Her initiative executive director, The Embassy of The Kingdom of Netherlands, and the Guests of Honor.
Mr. Kennedy Mmari founder and executive director of Serengeti bytes company is among the trainers of DigiMali on his speech he was quoted “We are in a digital era and the world has changed most of the activities nowadays are done digitally even business”. He uses his speech to emphasize more on the use of digital platforms, he says “the use of social media platforms will influence the improvement of our businesses by expanding our market cycle”.
As one of the beneficiaries of Her Initiative, Mwamini was happy to get a chance to be part of the DigiMali project which was mainly targeted to teach young women entrepreneurs the use of the digital platform to manage their business. In her speech, she said, “In today’s technologically advanced world, digital marketing is the new way to promote and sell products. Compared to traditional marketing, it is cost-effective, easily managed, and simple to analyze and learn, DigiMali has helped us to transform our business from traditional to digital businesses”
On the launching time Ms. Lydia Charles, the Executive Director of Her Initiative was quoted saying that ” Digital marketing majorly helps all businesses, big and small, take off. It is vital in this day and age and even helps with the employment problem that is why we need to have more DigiMalis in our society”
On behalf of The Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands, Mr. Mathjas said “Youth and women entrepreneurs have brilliant and innovative ideas, there is a very limited growth due to an ecosystem that lacks robust, coordinated pillars of digital business ecosystems, business finance literacy, and business management to drive self-employment opportunities and maximize the target group eligibility to scale up their businesses”
The guest of honor, honorable Janet Betty special sit Member of Parliament of Dar es salaam was happy with the work that the organization does, empowering young girls and women to be financially independent by providing them with skills and knowledge on how to start and manage their business while using digital.
During the panelist session, the various stakeholders debated the use of digital for both young men and women entrepreneurs on using digital platforms. The debate was participated by Gertrude Mligo, Rahma Bajun, Zahoro Muhaji, and Given Edward. During the panel discussion Mr. Given Edward was quoted saying that “Digital should not only be used for entertainment and business it can also be used to learn new ideas either in business, economy, and creativity”
Ms. Lydia Charles closed the event by officially launching the DigiMali report, she also made a call to all development partners, NGOs, government institutions, and other stakeholders to support the young women entrepreneurs in this transformation period from traditional to the digital economy.
In a society where we struggle with, COVID19, scarcity of market, and rising prices, digital marketing is the way to turn that around. The internet is easily accessible by everyone in any part of the globe. It is no longer only for a specific class of society. It is easier to connect with people without even having to meet them. Digital marketing is an advantage for businesses in this era. For this reason, there’s a need for youth to pursue these digital opportunities to improve their businesses online.