Impromptu Decisions: Tanzania's Local Government Authorities' challenge in Establishing and Managing the Women, Youth, and People with Disabilities Fund

Abstract

The Women, Youth, and People with Disabilities Revolving Fund (WYDF) was established by the Tanzanian government for the Local Government Authorities (LGAs) to assist women, young people, and people with disabilities who are unable to obtain loans from financial institutions due to a lack of collateral. LGAs have been carrying out this legislative mandate since 1993. Despite implementation, LGAs continue to face difficulties. The study aimed to ascertain the causes of the WYDF difficulties encountered in Tanzania's LGAs. The qualitative content analysis approach was called upon. It evaluated research and government reports on WYDF. Google Scholar and public archives were among the sources of the data. The content analysis method was used to process the data. The fund implementation conundrum is the result of the centralization of decision-making on the fund, a lack of capacity, poor readiness/internalization by LGAs, including the absence of loan officers, a lack of transparent histories of the groups, inadequate monitoring and evaluation, and a lack of policy to deal with unrecoverable loans. The primary sources of challenges are institutional internalization deficiencies and decision-making centralization. It is necessary to effectively capacitate LGAs to implement the fund. Additionally, government-LGA consultations are required for the fund's implementation to be successful.