Analysis of competitiveness of textile industries in Morogoro and Dar Es Salaam regions, Tanzania

Abstract

Tanzania is promoting industrialization with a motive to attain the middle economy status and broaden employment opportunities to the country’s population. This study analysed the competitiveness of textile industries in Morogoro and Dar es Salaam regions, Tanzania. More specifically, the overview of textile industries, their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOC). Furthermore, were analysed by examining the competitiveness score among the firms in the area of study. The study used both primary and secondary data, secondary data were collected from official publications and records provided from the respective firms, while and primary data were collected from seven operating textile industries in the study area. The data were collected through questionnaires, interviews and observation. Descriptive analysis was used to examine the firm’s performance, SWOC analysis was used to identify the strengths and weaknesses and the GEM Model was used to examine the competitiveness score. The results showed that, privately owned firms had a competitive advantage as opposed to public owned firms. Furthermore, the overall average GEM scores for competitiveness of the textile industries was 178 and industries with below 178 were considered as having competitive disadvantage. On the other hand, industries above 178 were considered as having a competitive advantage of above the national level. Hence, such textile industries were more competitive than was the case with the rest of textile industries and possesses the nationwide competitive advantage. Privately owned firms had a higher GEM competitive score than public owned firms. From the study, it is recommended that the textile and apparel firms need to consider adopting competitive strategies to enable them compete in a sustainable manner. Thereby, firms need to take into consideration the dimensions of diamond conditions in preparing for the corporate strategies that aim at attaining sustainable competitive advantage.