Aurelia Kamuzora

Transaction Costs Affecting Women Businesses: the Tanzanian Case Aurelia Kamuzora

The book discusses the transaction costs affecting entrepreneurs in Tanzania. It intends to inform the policy makers, investors and law makers about problems that emanate from laxity of law enforcement. It also try to inform the readers on what affects the businesses and investments in Africa, Tanzania being a case. Entrepreneurs need institutional support. The book borrow from the Coase's parable on "the problems of social cost". The social cost of not governing transaction costs is persisting poverty in Africa. In this case, if property rights are not well allocated and contracts are nor enforceable, it is not easy to enforce contracts. Women in the batik industry of Dar es Salaam exemplify this. The women in batik industry failed to benefit from African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) because of existing transaction costs in the market exchange. The lesson learned from this book may shed the light to the African leaders and investors on what should be done. The entrepreneurs need economic organization, contract and property rights laws enforcement. Those are the rules of the game that lessen transaction costs.