Thirty-five women entrepreneurs have scoped awards of excellence in their business in an event which was coordinated by Tanzania Women Chamber of Commerce (TWCC).

The colourful event was held in Dar es Salaam on Thursday and was graced by the Minister for Community Development, Women and Children, Dr Dorothy Gwajima.

Speaking during the ceremony, Dr Gwajima said women can do wonders if they are given chances and she urged men to trust them and give them space so that they can show their abilities.

She also advised the event organiserto increase the trophies from the current 35 up to 150 next year.

She said there were a lot of opportunities for loans with low interest where women can apply and start their own business instead of depending too much to their spouses.

TWCC, Chief Executive Officer, MwajumaHamza, said there were five judges who scrutinized entries of the competitions from 16 sectors and eventually they came up with 35 winners across the country.

She said there were criteria that were used to select winners among of them the sustainability of the business, strategic plan of the business, if it has TBS certification and the ownership of the business.

The team leader of the GIZ Regional Program Employment and Skills for Development in Africa, KabongoMbuyisaid that women are key drivers of change and do provide majority of employment opportunities as well as contributing to the national economy (GDP) as in Tanzania women owned enterprises stands at 54 percent.

“As we have seen in women industrial exhibitions last week over 300 women from various sectors have showcased their products so we believe enabling women economically and to take up leadership positions is good for business,” she said.

She said through programmes such as business scouts for development, GIZ has enabled women participation in various business forums at national, regional and international levels.

Apart from GIZ other sponsors were Trade Mark East Africa, CRDB Bank, NMB Bank and NBC Bank.