Abstract
The issue of youth unemployment and underemployment, as well as their consequences, continues to hinder development in Tanzania, more so for those secondary school graduates who are unable to move on to higher education or to the formal workforce. Youth who are left out of economic activities often turn to the informal sector for self-employment, which means that they must deal with little institutional support, a shortage of resources, and enduring regulatory restrictions. This present research contributes to literature by looking into entrepreneurial experiences, challenges, and supports needs of secondary school graduates working in the informal sector of Arusha City Tanzania. The study explores factors that contribute to youth entrepreneurship among secondary school graduates in the informal sector in Arusha City, Tanzania and explores the influence of local support systems. It employs a qualitative research methodology that resides within the interpretivist paradigm. A total of eight secondary education graduates aged 23 to 29 were purposively selected and interviewed to obtain the perspectives of the youth. The youth were engaged in informal activities like food vending, tailoring, jewellery-making, motorcycle repairs, and phone servicing. The data were subjected to thematic analysis through the application of Braun and Clarke's reflexive framework, and the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem theory was utilised to explain how the elements of the ecosystem become apparent in informal, resource-constrained settings. Four main findings were identified. To begin with, the transition to entrepreneurship was driven by overlapping forces of necessity—losing jobs, being excluded from education—and, to a minimal extent, by aspiration in terms of the desire for independence and family backing. The second finding was that skills were learnt mainly through non-formal methods such as apprenticeship, learning from peers, and trial and error rather than through formal schooling. The third finding was that the participants had to face different layers of challenges, which were financial exclusion, regulatory harassment, social stigma, gendered vulnerabilities, and inadequate infrastructure. Lastly, informal but necessary support systems, consisting of family ties, peer groups, and savings organisations, were crucial for the survival of the businesses, although these supports were still not enough to guarantee significant upward mobility. The findings have two main implications. In the first place, informal entrepreneurship of secondary school graduates should be considered as a legitimate means of livelihood and not just a temporary fallback. In the second place, the youth entrepreneurship development must rely on integrated interventions, which ...