University students and graduates have been urged to stop treating entrepreneurship as an individual pursuit and instead form and formalise business groups to improve their access to financing, government tenders and other economic opportunities.
Business Registrations and Licensing Agency (BRELA) Chief Executive Officer Godfrey Nyaisa said operating through legally recognised groups could give young entrepreneurs greater bargaining power and make it easier to pursue opportunities that may be difficult to access individually.
He made the remarks on Thursday, September 17, 2026, while speaking at the CEO Mindset 2026 conference organised by the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), where he encouraged students to start thinking about formal business structures before they graduate.
“Young people need to start thinking beyond individual efforts. When you operate through formalised groups, you can build collective strength and be better positioned to pursue economic opportunities,” Mr Nyaisa said.
His message comes at a time when many young Tanzanians are turning to entrepreneurship amid limited formal employment opportunities, making access to capital, markets and public procurement increasingly important for small businesses.
Mr Nyaisa said forming groups could help young entrepreneurs pool resources, strengthen their businesses and pursue financing and tenders as a collective.
He said business registration was not simply an administrative requirement but an important step in transforming an idea into a recognised enterprise capable of participating in the formal economy.
“Registration and formalisation of a business is an important step in a young person's journey from having a business idea to becoming an entrepreneur with a recognised operation,” he said.
Mr Nyaisa called for business formalisation education to begin at universities, saying students should understand the practical steps involved in establishing and running businesses before entering the job market.
He urged UDSM business lecturers to allocate time for students to engage with BRELA officials and learn about registering companies, business names and other formalisation procedures.
Such exposure, he said, would help students move from classroom ideas to businesses that can operate within the formal economy.
The CEO Mindset 2026 conference brought together 33 students from the UDSM Business School (UDBS), School of Education (UDSoE), and College of Agricultural Sciences and Food Technology (CoAF).
The conference sought to prepare students and recent graduates for leadership and management responsibilities, including establishing and running businesses and other institutions.
Mr Nyaisa also highlighted the role of digital registration systems in making it easier for young people to formalise their businesses.
Some students who attended the conference welcomed BRELA's decision to engage directly with university students, saying the session had given them a better understanding of how formalisation and digital registration could support their business ambitions while still at university.
The Head of UDBS, Prof Omari Mbura, thanked BRELA for providing the students with practical knowledge on business and leadership.
He said such engagements complemented classroom learning by exposing students to the realities they would face after completing their studies.
Prof Mbura encouraged students to make use of the knowledge gained and continue developing their skills beyond the university environment.
BRELA's engagement with UDSM students is part of the agency's efforts to expand public awareness of business registration, formalisation and intellectual property, particularly among young people.
For university students considering entrepreneurship, the message is that formalising early can help turn group initiatives and business ideas into recognised enterprises capable of pursuing opportunities in the wider economy.
The initiative is also in line with Tanzania's broader development agenda, including the National Development Vision 2050, endorsed by Parliament in June 2025, which seeks to strengthen economic participation and private-sector development.