Catalysing Investment Finance for SMEs: FSD Tanzania’s Foray into the Enterprise Growth Market

FSD Tanzania (FSDT) provided approximately USD 1.36 million in grants to the Capital Markets and Securities Authority (CMSA) and the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) to establish the Enterprise Growth Market (EGM). The EGM aims to provide long-term equity capital for growth-oriented SMEs in sectors such as agribusiness, mining, and manufacturing. Since its launch, five companies have listed, raising approximately TZS 46 billion from 242,518 investors. While the initiative has successfully increased the number of investors and improved the capacity of regulators, challenges remain regarding low liquidity, limited managerial skills among MSMEs, and the sustainability of funding for awareness and capacity-building activities.

• FSD Tanzania provided approximately USD 1,360,000 in funding to the CMSA and DSE in 2011 to support the operationalisation of the EGM and stimulate its adoption by firms and investors.
• The EGM has successfully raised about TZS 46 billion from 242,518 investors, with five companies listed: Maendeleo Commercial Bank, Swala Oil & Gas, Mkombozi Commercial Bank, Mwalimu Commercial Bank, and Yetu Microfinance Bank.
• The initiative has improved the technical and regulatory capacity of the CMSA and DSE, resulting in the registration of six service providers as Nominated Advisors (NOMADs).
• Despite initial success, the EGM faces systemic challenges including low liquidity in secondary markets, a lack of participants in core sectors like agriculture and tourism, and limited managerial skills among MSMEs to meet corporate governance standards.
• To support smaller firms and start-ups in meeting listing costs, a US$200,000 revolving fund was established to provide short-term concessional loans for engaging NOMADs.
• The DSE has introduced technological innovations to increase retail investor participation, including a mobile platform for virtual investment and the DSE Scholar Investment Challenge for university students.

APA

Gibson, A., Elliott, D., & Johnson, D. (2017). Catalysing Investment Finance for SMEs: FSD Tanzania’s Foray into the Enterprise Growth Market. FSD Africa. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FSDT-Case-study.pdf

Chicago

Gibson, Alan, David Elliott, and Diane Johnson. Catalysing Investment Finance for SMEs: FSD Tanzania’s Foray into the Enterprise Growth Market. FSD Africa, 2017. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FSDT-Case-study.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gibson |first1=Alan |last2=Elliott |first2=David |last3=Johnson |first3=Diane |title=Catalysing Investment Finance for SMEs: FSD Tanzania’s Foray into the Enterprise Growth Market |publisher=FSD Africa |date=March 2017 |url=https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FSDT-Case-study.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gibson2017catalysing, author = {Gibson, Alan and Elliott, David and Johnson, Diane}, title = {{Catalysing Investment Finance for SMEs: FSD Tanzania’s Foray into the Enterprise Growth Market}}, institution = {FSD Africa}, year = {2017}, month = mar, url = {https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FSDT-Case-study.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }