This article assesses barriers to business start-ups among university graduates by drawing evidence from the University of Dar-es-salaam. A cross-sectional research design was used with a sample comprising 308 graduates and 10 key informants. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and key informant interview checklist and were analysed using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) whereby confirmatory factor analysis was performed using Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Pearson’s chi-square was used to test whether graduates who had not studied entrepreneurship and those who had studied entrepreneurship reported different start-up barriers. It was found that inappropriate teaching methods, lack of business experience, deficiencies in the university programmes, commitments on extended families and bureaucratic tendencies had greater contribution to hindering business start-ups. It was concluded that entrepreneurship study influenced the way graduates perceived the barriers; it was observed that graduates who studied entrepreneurship reported different start-up barriers from those reported by their counterparts. The results were statistically significant at p-value < 0.05. Higher learning institutions should adopt competent based curricula in order to impart necessary business skills to students and use the business apprenticeship approach while students are still on studies.

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Several different actors are involved in making sure smallholder farmers are motivated to commit funds in expectation of future returns (investment decisions) from useful domesticated animals (livestock). However, efforts by the government, international organizations and the private sector have not been able to significantly increase trade trends in Tanzania’s livestock which explains that there could be a lot more reasons for that. This manuscript assesses the socio-cultural factors (SCFs) influencing livestock investment decisions among smallholder farmers in Mbulu and Bariadi districts in Tanzania. A cross-sectional research design was employed where a sample of 333 respondents and 9 key informants were interviewed. Primary data were collected using a structured questionnaire and a key informant checklist. A binary logistic regression model (BLRM) was used to analyse the relationship between SCFs and livestock investment decisions. Results show that store of wealth is the most influencing factor followed by prestige, bride prices, ethnicity and number of children (significant at p < 0.05) to household livestock investment decisions. The study generally concludes that smallholder farmers consider their cultural perspectives before they decide on livestock management styles and that blending the SCFs and other factors could secure more livestock investments.

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This paper examines the performance of opposition parties and the prospects of multiparty politics in Tanzania. At independence in 1961 and during Colonial Rule, Tanganyika now Tanzania Mainland was enjoying a multiparty democracy but moved to one party state during 1970s. The Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) has won all elections since re-introduction of multiparty politics in 1992. The debate now is on the performance of Tanzania's opposition parties. Some scholars argue that many Tanzanians especially smallholders and rural inhabitants have strong loyalty to the ruling party CCM despite the economic difficulties they face. They further argue that, this strong loyalty to CCM is largely a result of lack of a strong alternative among the political parties, and nostalgia for the party which brought them independence and which has maintained relative peace. They also maintain that, it will simply take time for such nostalgia to fade and for a pro-rural challenge to the CCM to emerge; otherwise, age appears to have no significant effect on CCM support both Tanzanians old and young are loyal to the CCM. However, others claim that even if CCM is enjoying the power of the incumbency past elections results show that the margin of votes across constituencies for the CCM is in steady decline, thus challenging its dominance'. This paper is set to contribute to this live debate but taking the readers to a slightly different view point. In this paper, it is argued that, in spite of the claims made on the nature and quality of electoral institutions, and electoral system, opposition parties in the country have remained both numerically institutionally weak and fragmented. It is further argued that failure of the Tanzanian opposition parties is largely a product of internal weaknesses.