- Gloria Loishiye is a sustainability enthusiast and result-driven entrepreneur from Tanzania whose business philosophy includes intentionality, diversification and strategic planning.
- In 2023, Gloria joined the Advancing Gender Equality and Women Empowerment Entrepreneurship and Financial Literacy Training Programme.
- For Gloria, the programme has been an eye-opener, and she is using her new knowledge and skills to expand her business.
- The programme was delivered by UNITAR Division for Prosperity / Hiroshima Office in partnership with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and with the financial support of the Government of Canada.
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23 May 2024, Hiroshima, Japan - Gloria Loishiye is one of over 2,000 alumni of the 2023 UNITAR Advancing Gender Equality and Women Empowerment Entrepreneurship and Financial Literacy Training Programme. She is a Tanzanian entrepreneur whose ventures span landscaping, gardening and environmental conservation.
Gloria launched her company in 2022 and began operating in January 2023. Currently, her company works in two major cities in Tanzania – Da es Salaam and Zanzibar. She offers professional cleaning, landscaping and gardening services, as well as other environmental clean-up and sustainability services such as beach cleaning and tree planting.
Gloria has also taken to supporting young people in her community who did not complete their secondary education. Recognizing that many of them struggled with a lack of direction, Gloria pays them to train with her and gain hands-on skills. Some of them she hires once they complete the training; others will have marketable skills to find other jobs, thereby securing stable livelihoods.
FROM IDEATION TO EXPANSION
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Gloria’s business story began with the idea of starting a carpet-cleaning company. However, after being advised by a friend not to limit her services, she expanded to full professional cleaning, and then into landscaping, gardening and environmental conservation.
With the influx of new businesses in the landscaping sector in Tanzania, Gloria had to find strategies to remain competitive and focus on sustainability services. She also seized opportunities to learn from industry professionals and worked side-by-side with them in public gardens. What she learned, she incorporated into growing her business.
Gloria is now working on a project that focuses on environmental conservation, including ocean clean-ups and tree planting within the community. It is a blueprint for increasing public awareness and helping community members understand how to foster a sustainable environment in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES AT UNITAR
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Gloria found out about the 2023 entrepreneurship and financial literacy training programme through an email in her mailbox. The promising benefits of the programme and its focus on women’s empowerment caught her attention, and she decided to apply. Once the programme began, Gloria appreciated its comprehensive, holistic approach.
It was more technical and more supportive than I expected, which was a good experience.” –Gloria Loishiye, Tanzanian entrepreneur and UNITAR alumna
One of the first things she learned was how women’s businesses in the African region tend to be on a small scale compared to that of men. “Women were just doing small businesses to feed ourselves and our kids,” she says. She noticed how fellow women entrepreneurs faced similar challenges across the region. “If you’re a woman running a business – the men are given more respect. It’s the same everywhere,” she says. “The challenges, they cross over countries.”
She was therefore encouraged to learn in the programme about funding opportunities for African women entrepreneurs, especially if they collaborated within and outside country borders. There are possibilities to be explored, and Gloria and the other Tanzanian training alumnae are staying in touch to get to know each other better and discover synergies.
Thanks to the training, Gloria experienced a paradigm shift in how she runs her company. She uses practical accounting and risk management skills, and she has become more intentional, taking actions with the desired results in mind. She is also more conscious about gender, and that awareness shapes the decisions she makes for her business and how she engages with the community.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Gloria encourages fellow entrepreneurs who are just starting to be intentional. She advises them to plan, think outside the box, diversify and focus on long-term sustainability rather than short-term gratification. And she encourages entrepreneurs who are facing challenges to speak up and ask for help from experts.
Gloria’s goal is to expand her business into more cities, helping make the cities greener while improving lives and livelihoods.
I just want the cities to be green, and in the future, I want to be part of those people who are doing that.” –Gloria Loishiye, Tanzanian entrepreneur and UNITAR alumna
United Nations Online Volunteer Anuoluwapo O. Ajao contributed to this article.
ABOUT UNITAR
The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is a dedicated training arm of the United Nations. In 2022, UNITAR trained over 395,000 learners around the world to support their actions for a better future. In addition to our headquarters in Geneva, we have offices in Hiroshima, New York and Bonn and networks around the world.
The Division for Prosperity is based in the Hiroshima Office and Geneva. We seek to shape an inclusive, sustainable and prosperous world through world-class learning and knowledge-sharing services on entrepreneurship, leadership, finance and trade, digital technologies, and nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. We empower individuals from least-developed countries, countries emerging from conflict, and small-island developing states – especially women and young people – to bring about positive change.