Availing of affordable microfinance services is the best way to fight poverty in Africa, including Tanzania.
It’s Winnie Terry, the Chief Executive Officer of Dar es Salaam based, Tanzania Institute of Microfinance (TAMFI), talking.
That conviction, that principle is her passion as she advocates for improved business environment for microfinance sub-sector in Tanzania. Her association brings together over 150 micro-finance institutions across East Africa Community’s second largest economy.
“Microfinance or any funding for that matter is never a magic wand for blowing away poverty in a flash,” says
Unfortunately, she says according to her experience, most of the people seeking funding hardly give any weight to other tools necessary for poverty reduction like good ideas, entrepreneurship, self-confidence and the virtues of hard work among others.
“This is what makes taking a loan to many people a precarious affair. Many want the loan as a shortcut to a better life. This is the worst approach I have been trying to fight so as to make microfinance work,” she says.
Tanzania is a great country, and it hurts too much, to see our nation suffer the poverty malaise, she intones looking up and down. Then almost in whispers, she adds with conviction in her eyes that, “poverty in Tanzania is first and foremost in the mindset. Once you solve the mindset problem, then economic freedom for the majority populace shall follow.”
After working in the business of fighting poverty for over 20 years, Winnie, does not have any doubt about her convictions.
| Winnie Terry is passionate about making a difference and developing solutions to social and economic problems to low income people. She gained experience in microfinance while working with FINCA Tanzania and Tujijenge Tanzania in different capacities. She has attended numerous short courses on microfinance, management and leadership locally and internationally- Tanzania Women Architects for Humanity (TAWAH) |
“We are not poor. We only have the ‘poor’ mentality, which we need to chase away. We are blessed with abundant and vast natural resources. All we need to do is strike a balance in managing our resources and exploiting endless opportunities our motherland offers,” she says.
Poverty in Tanzania is manifested in many ways in almost all sectors with fatal consequences, where in many instances it is a matter of life and death, she agrees with me. “But where does it all start in such a resource rich country like ours?” she poses, and nods “mindset”.
What if the masses are not willing to change their mindset, I ask her. Without mincing words, she says then there will be no tangible solution for poverty reduction. She says, most of the solutions in fighting poverty deal with the symptoms rather than the actual disease.
“The answer to a meaningful life comes from the desire to rise up above challenges to better fortunes. This involves great efforts and will not just happen because one has managed to possess a single item in the poverty reduction tool box. You need a plethora of tools,” she states.
Winnie has come a long way, from being a scientist to a development worker. Born in the mid 60s and raised up in Arusha, she has witnessed the transformation of Tanzania from socialist state to market economy.
From her childhood to becoming a young adult at the University of Dar es Salaam, she says life was generally very positive. “You know growing up in a closely knit family, with both parents there for you, it is an experience I live to cherish,” she stated.
In those days, life was mostly about impressing your parents whose main demands were discipline, hard work and good grades at school.
My father made it clear if one went to school and passed well life would be good, she says. Winnie attended the then famous Machame Secondary, where discipline and hard work were a must. Later on, she joined Lugambao High School in Bukoba for A level. At first it was hard being so far away from home, she says. It was also odd, she was now at a school with no fence, so much freedom and so little supervision.
“Despite all this, I kept my virtues… thanks to the strict upbringing at home,” she says
Looking back, she says education now and then are two different ball games. For both teachers and students life was all about education and peer pressure was unheard. It was what your parents and teachers said that one would follow.
“Today there are too many distractions. Too many things outside education makes kids not to concentrate. Mobile, TVs, Video Games, newspapers…etc,” she says adding for her, apart from novels there was no other distraction. She laments that the student today in Tanzania does not want even to participate in useful games- netball, …… “Instead of being active, they want to participate in passive events only- watching games, TV, etc,” she says.
After A level, she joined the National Service at Ole Njoro camp for one year and later on, University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), where she graduated with a Bachelor of science.
It was not her choice to take science but in those days, it was decided bright students must take science and the average ones would take arts.
“I knew I was trapped. I did not like science but there was no way out. I also realised if I did not do well I could be discontinued…so I had no choice but to study hard maths, chemistry and all..yes, and I made it,” she says.
She is one of the beneficiaries of Nyerereism as she graduated in 1985. “We did not pay a coin for our education. Actually we got some allowance and our needs like food and accommodation were met,” she says.
It was at UDSM, life became a serious business, and it’s also here that she started making decisions that would affect her life as her own responsibility.
In those days after university, getting a job was almost automatic, unlike now when graduates really have to tarmac sometimes for years. For some years she worked in jobs related to her science studies but later on, decided to seek a job in a different arena.
After joining FINCA Tanzania, a microfinance institution as a loan officer, the hidden person in her, the development worker, was born, and since then, there has been no turning back.
She worked for the institution in Tanzania, Zambia and South Africa for about six years.
“I found my passion here. At first I was not sure if it works. But then it works, I found out. Advising those in need and finally providing to them some funding, it was gratifying. Some people would come only to realise they don’t need the loans, but have to fulfil other demands for their small businesses to move on,” she says.
Six years later she decided to quit and peruse MA – International development (focus economic policy) in the United States. After coming back to Tanzania, in July 2006, she felt ready to start a new microfinance venture -together with former colleagues, they opened Tujijenge Tanzania, with Winnie as the managing director.
Later on, she moved out of the position but remains a director and joined Tanzania Institute of MicroFinance as the executive secretary. Here she has a platform to really rally for best practise and education in the sector. The two factors, she feels will take the sector to new heights.
She says microfinance is a tool of development and works if other tools are deployed as well. That is why, she calls upon microfinance institutions to offer education before one takes a loan and even afterwards. Apart from microfinance, her other passions are music, books and plants.