The impact of digital and online marketing skills training on youth's business sales and profitability

In Tanzania, 11.8 percent of youth are unemployed, and most are female. It is estimated that about 400,000 youth enter the labor market annually to compete for only 40,000 jobs created in the economy. Existing evidence shows that youth lacks formal employment in governments and private sectors engage in entrepreneurship for livelihood. However, most of the businesses they operate and own face multiple challenges, including the ability to generate decent income partly due to insufficient skills, particularly marketing skills. While the growth of the digital market and the influx of social media platforms create opportunities to boost business profit and expand employment in youth-owned businesses, only a few engage in digital marketing to increase their customer base and sales. This pilot study sets out to assess the impact of improving youth’s digital skills for their business sales and profitability in Tanzania.