DAR ES SALAAM UNIVERSITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP FORUM

FIVE YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN

(2009 – 2014)

D . U . E . F
D a r e s s a l a a m U n i v e r s i t y
E n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p F o r u m

Prepared by:

Gabriel Bakilana

Founding General Secretary of DUEF (2001 – 2005)

 DUEF: Introduction and History
Dar Es Salaam University Entrepreneurship forum (DUEF) is a student-run, non-
partisan and non profit making Organisation that aims at imparting entrepreneurial
knowledge and skills to its members and non- members, who then spread the skills
to the rest of society, in this way assisting in the building a general prosperity
mindset and build a society of job creators; thus enlarging the job market in both, the
formal and informal sectors. It was established back in March 2001, and ever since,
DUEF has worked with other Organisations that provide Business Support Services
(BDS) by providing competent personnel, trainers and advisors in various business
related fields.

DUEF works with the University of Dar Es Salaam Entrepreneurship Centre (UDEC)
as a partner and guiding body. It also works in partnership with Junior Achievement -
Tanzania Chapter (JAT), Centre for sustainable Development Initiatives (CSDI),
AIESEC, Youth of the United Nations Association of Tanzania (YUNA), Tanzania
Youth Vision Association (TYVA), Opportunities Industrialization Centers of
Tanzania (OIC Tanzania), and many other Organisations, both profit making and
non-profit making.

1. Vision Statement
To Achieve understanding and appreciation of Entrepreneurship by Tanzanian
University Students and society at large by 2014.

2. Mission Statement
To inform the community of DUEF’s roles and capabilities, to maintain standards of
excellence and best practice in entrepreneurship development, to collect and
disseminate Entrepreneurship knowledge, to develop entrepreneurship opportunities
for members, and to promote self-employment /careers.

3. Objectives of DUEF
 To promote entrepreneurial skills among University students and society at large.
 To act as an advocacy agency for more participation of youth in Business
activities.
 To make information and knowledge on entrepreneurship and business
operations available to those who need and will benefit from it, particularly to
youth and women groups.
 To promote Entrepreneurship through publications (both web and print),
conferences and workshops.
 To cooperate with other Organizations, both local and international, in the fight
against poverty, using entrepreneurship as a major tool.
 To conduct and assist other organisations in Research related to
entrepreneurship and other business operations.
 To promote community self-employment.
 To act as a rootstock of future business-people.
 To foster personal development and participation in business activities among
members and associates.
 Assisting members in changing circumstances into business opportunities and
enable them to benefit from them.
 Giving the members and associates exposure and experience on
Entrepreneurship, business opportunities, and business operations.

4. Internal Organisation and Structure

The moving driving force behind DUEF is the Executive Council. The Executive
Council is composed of the Chairperson, General Secretary, Director - Finance,
Director - Planning, Director – Promotion, the Registrar, and two other members
elected from the pool of members. The Executive Council’s major tasks are to
execute and supervise all DUEF programmes and activities, to uphold the forum’s
policy and ensure that it is adhered to. The Executive Council members are elected
by the General Meeting of all members of the forum, after being nominated by the
members.

The Executive Council of DUEF is answerable to the members through the General
Meeting, composed of ALL members of DUEF, which is held at least once per year.
The Quorum at all General Meetings shall be 2/3 of all the members. Each
Director/Registrar is assisted in his/her duties by 2 other DUEF members who will
not be members of the Executive Council. These Assistants shall be appointed by
the respective Directors/ Registrar, and their appointment shall be confirmed by the
Executive Council. Every member of the Executive Council shall hold office for 2
year(s) from the date of election and shall be eligible for re-election (Only ONE re-
election chance is allowed).

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

DUEF MEMBERS

CHAIRPERSON

GENERAL SECRETARY

Director: Finance Director: Planning Director: Publicity Registrar

2 ASSISTANTS FOR EACH SECTION HEAD (8 IN TOTAL)

The Executive Council meets at least twice in every moth to evaluate the
implementation of DUEF functions. In cases when the Chairperson is absent for any
reason, the General Secretary acts as the Chairman until such time the Chairperson
returns. In such cases, the Chairman notifies the Executive Council of his absence.

 MEMBERSHIP
DUEF’s existence is dependent on membership. Membership is open to all
University of Dar es salaam Students interested in Entrepreneurship and Business in
general, regardless of their field of study. Members are required to be people of
goodwill, who are willing to use their skills for furtherance of DUEF mission.
Membership is open to individuals as well as corporate members.

Any member may opt to resign his/her membership by giving notice in writing to the
Executive Council. Every such notice shall, unless otherwise expressed, be deemed
to take effect from the first day of January, following the receipt of the notice by the
General Secretary.

In general, any member shall cease to be a member of DUEF if: -

- He/she goes contrary to the constitution of DUEF and confirmed by the
Executive Council.
- If He/ She dies.
- If he/she is convicted of a Criminal Offence punishable by imprisonment of at
least three (3) months.
- If he/she becomes of unsound mind.
- If he/she absents him/herself for no valid reasons for more than THREE
consecutive meetings (if Member of Executive Council).
- If He/She resigns.

 FINANCE
DUEF started with very little in terms of material contribution but with a lot in terms of
goodwill, knowledge and willingness to share it. At first, most of the financing came
from membership fees/subscriptions and voluntary donations. The members decide
and fix such amounts of membership fees/subscriptions at the annual general
meetings.

However, DUEF has, in several occasions, received grants and donations from other
associations, corporate bodies (both public and private) within and outside the
University of Dar es salaam and from individuals.

DUEF operates a Current Bank Account with NBC Ltd., Mlimani Branch. All monies
belonging to the association, including donations, subscriptions, etc., are paid into
this Account before any disbursement.
 5. SWOT Analysis
 Strengths
- Recognition of Existence by the University of Dar es Salaam Administration,
particularly the University of Dar es Salaam Business School.
- Few but committed members (currently DUEF has 128 active members)
- Close ties with the University of Dar es Salaam Entrepreneurship Centre
(UDEC).
- Due to the nature of the Organisation and its activities, there are no real
competitors to its operations.

 Weaknesses
- Weak Financial Ability: Poor collection of subscriptions (currently
subscriptions stand at TShs 10,000 p.a. per individual member), weak fund-
raising ability, low inflow of aid and donations.
- Weak Leadership: Leaders are not actively involved and committed to the
mission of DUEF.
- Weak Communication among members. Most members do not make use of
email facilities at the University, which is the main communication method
used for communication.
- DUEF does not have Financial Regulations

 Opportunities
- There are numerous ideas for activities which can be done by DUEF in the
future.
- There are readily available sponsors for entrepreneurship development
activities, such as the University of Dar es Salaam in general, the University
of Dar es Salaam Business School, UDEC, and numerous companies which
are committed to enterprise development.
- DUEF can always rely on the guidance and cooperation of the University of
Dar es Salaam Entrepreneurship Centre in terms of expertise, and
assistance. UDEC’s open door policy towards DUEF has proven to be very
valuable.
- With good plans, activities, and improved communication and promotion of
the organisation, DUEF can grow to unimaginable proportions.

 Challenges
- Implementation of good plans is subject to commitment of leaders and
associate organisations to DUEF.

6. STRATEGIES FOR 2009 - 2014

For the next five years, DUEF wants to pursue the following strategies: -

 Strategy 1: To expand the Membership Base and Scope

DUEF needs to have more committed members in order to enable a bigger number
of students benefit from its existence. By 2014, DUEF wants to achieve an active
membership base of 1,000 Individual members.
  Strategy 2: To strengthen DUEF’s Financial Ability
From the wider membership base, DUEF stands to benefit from increased
subscriptions. DUEF also needs to find and make effective use of other fund-raising
methods in order to make the organisation active.

 Strategy 3: Improve Members’ skills and competencies.

DUEF members need skills such as financial management, effective marketing, time
management, business and strategic planning, consulting skills, etc. in order to
contribute well towards the development of their organisation and to enable them be
good consultants ad businesspeople. In the next five years, DUEF will strive to
improve the skills of its members by providing entrepreneurial training.

 Strategy 4: To Provide Improve Communication among members.

DUEF will formulate and adopt new, diverse and effective communication methods
for information gathering and sharing, as well as publicity of its activities.

 Strategy 5: To raise the profile and participation of the University

Student community, the public, especially youth in
entrepreneurial activities by organising more activities for
them.
In the next five years, DUEF will organize more activities for members and non-members to
participate, main aim being to enable more people, particularly youth, to benefit from its existence,
and to popularize the Organisation. In this way, more will be induced to join DUEF and more
sponsors will be interested in supporting such activities.

 Strategy 6: Grooming good and competent future leaders.

DUEF will start a special leadership grooming project that will bring up potential leaders and offer
them a chance to show their skills in practice.

 Strategy 7: Creating Working Partnerships with Other Organisations

through UDEC.
DUEF needs to work with other organisations in order to build its own capacity through sharing of
experiences and assimilation of knowledge. To attain this DUEF is set to revive old relations and
create new partnerships with other Organisations. This is only possible by working closely with
UDEC.

7. STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
Strategy 1: To expand the Membership Base and Scope
SN Strategy Implementation Key Performance Indicators Results
to date
1.1 Recruit new and Retain old Attaining a registered level of 200
members Individual members by April 2010
1.2 Recruit new and Retain old Attaining a registered level of 400
members Individual members by April 2011
1.3 Recruit new and Retain old Attaining a registered level of 600
members Individual members by April 2012
1.4 Recruit new and Retain old Attaining a registered level of 800
members Individual members by April 2013
1.5 Recruit new and Retain old Attaining a registered level of
 members 1,000 Individual members by April
2014
Strategy 2: To strengthen DUEF’s Financial Ability
SN Strategy Implementation Key Performance Indicators Results
to date
2.1 Effective collection of Attaining a 100% level of
membership fees/subscriptions subscription collection by April
2010
2.2 Organizing an annual fund- At least One fund-raising dinner
raising dinner organized by April 2010, and
every year up to 2014
2.3 Organizing an annual fund- At least One fund-raising charity
raising charity walk event walk event organized by April
2010, and every year up to 2014
2.4 Preparation of Financial Financial Regulations document
Regulations prepared by December 2009
2.5 Implementation of Financial Financial Regulations
Regulations Implementation to start by January
2010

Strategy 3: Improve Members’ skills and competencies.

SN Strategy Implementation
3.1 To assess the training needs of
members and their ability to
contribute towards meeting the
training costs.
3.2 Development of Training Course
Timetable
3.3 To conduct Training courses in
collaboration with UDEC
Key Performance Indicators Results
to date
Training needs assessment/study
conducted by June 2009
Training Course Timetable
developed by July 2009
Training courses conducted in
collaboration with UDEC as per
Training Course Timetable
developed.

Strategy 4: To Provide Improve Communication among members.

SN Strategy Implementation Key Performance Indicators Results to
date
4.1 Development of DUEF website, DUEF website developed by July
and linking it to the UDEC 2009.
website.

4.2 Development of Members’ Members’ database and Yahoo

database and Yahoo! mailing mailing group developed by June
group. 2009.

4.2 Re-launching of “The “The Entrepreneur” electronic

Entrepreneur” electronic magazine re-launched by August
magazine. 2009.

4.4 Monthly Electronic Publishing of “The Entrepreneur” electronic

“The Entrepreneur” electronic magazine published on a monthly
magazine. basis from August 2009.
Strategy 5: To raise the profile and participation of the University student
community, the public, especially youth in entrepreneurial
activities by organising more activities for them.
SN Strategy Implementation Key Performance Indicators Results
to date
5.1 To organize an annual Annual Entrepreneurship essay-
Entrepreneurship essay-writing writing competition organized by
competition. April 2010 and for each of the 4
years to follow.

5.2 To organize an annual Annual University

University Entrepreneurship
Awareness Day, in collaboration
with UDEC for new University
students.
Entrepreneurship Awareness Day
for new University students
organised in collaboration with
UDEC by April 2010 and for each
of the 4 years to follow.

5.3 To organize monthly Public Monthly Public lectures on

lectures on Entrepreneurship
related topics in collaboration
with professionals working with
reputable Organisations in
Tanzania.
Entrepreneurship related topics
organised in collaboration with
professionals working with
reputable Organisations in
Tanzania.

Strategy 6: Grooming good and competent future leaders.

SN Strategy Implementation Key Performance Indicators Results
to date
6.1 Development of Leadership Leadership Grooming Program
Grooming Program Developed by December 2009.

6.2 Implementation of the Commencement of the

Continuous Leadership
Grooming Program
6.3 Training of Leaders and
Members on monitoring and
evaluation. This program will
be continuous and frequent.
6.4 A group of FIVE Monitoring
and Evaluation Consultants
selected and engaged to
perform M&E functions for
DUEF activities. Each year a
new group will be selected to
undertake this task, following
the same principles in order
to give a chance for the best
trained members to put their
Implementation of the
Continuous Leadership
Grooming Program by January
2010
50 DUEF members trained on
Monitoring and evaluation by
April 2010.
- Group of FIVE Monitoring and
Evaluation Consultants
selected from trained members
engaged to perform M&E
functions for DUEF activities by
May 2010.
- Terms of reference for this
work prepared by April 2010.
 skills into pactise.
Strategy 7: Creating Working Partnerships with Other Organisations through
UDEC.
SN Strategy Implementation Key Performance Indicators Results
to date
7.1 Consultation with UDEC on Consultative meeting held with
possibility of creating UDEC on possibility of creating
Partnerships with other Partnerships with other
Organisations through UDEC, Organisations through UDEC
identification of such by June 2009.
Organisations, and setting of
a schedule for
implementation of the
discussed and agreed issues.
7.2 Implementation of the agreed Implementation of the agreed
issues following a issues started by August 2009.
Consultative meeting with
UDEC on possibility of
creating Partnerships with
other Organisations through
UDEC.

8. MONITORING AND EVALUATION

A good monitoring and evaluation system needs to be developed by DUEF. At the
moment DUEF has no capacity to take undertake such functions, and will therefore
have to rely on UDEC to undertake this function, at least for the year 2009 – 2010.
But this strategic plan has made provisions for DUEF leaders and members to
develop competencies in monitoring and evaluation systems under Strategy 6.