One major challenge is that this growing young population is not in tandem with the job opportunities available on the market, hence the high youth unemployment rate to-date.
However, the good news is there is an opportunity as a country to incorporate the unemployed youth into the workforce by building entrepreneurship support structures.
The support structures that are needed to build the growth of small businesses and entrepreneurs include incubation hubs where entrepreneurs are nurtured in a suitable environment that support co-creation, knowledge sharing and communities, business development centres, universities, research institutes to build better technologies, favourable policies and government contracting and financing.
It may not be the 'silver bullet' to the problem of youth unemployment but, innovation programmes have played a significant role in mitigating youth unemployment through expert mentorship, business and technical training, seed funding, market access, to mention but a few.
The ongoing Kijana Jiajiri (Youth Business Tanzania) programme launched in Dar es Salaam two years ago will support under-served young entrepreneurs across Tanzania to start up and thrive in business.
The programme is being implemented jointly by Youth Business International, the National Economic Empowerment Council (NEEC), and Tanzania Entrepreneurship and Competiveness Centre (TECC). It aims to support young adults with entrepreneurship training and create business start-ups.
The demand for such programmes in Tanzania is clear, and is the reason the country has been a key strategic focus of the network teams since.
Despite being one of the fastest growing economies in the world and with a governmental focus on education, Tanzania suffers from a youth unemployment epidemic, there are currently more than nine million unemployed young people in the country and this number is expected to grow to 15 million by 2030, according to the World Bank.
The partners, NEEC, TECC and YBI, hope that as the programmes becomes established other donors will join, enabling the support of thousands of youth-led businesses each year.
Access to finance has become a hindrance to business development for Tanzanians and it is worse for the under-served youth who do not possess collateral, making it hard for them to start up business by relying on traditional bank loans.
The several ongoing programmes should offer business and technical training, seed funding, access to expert mentors to support all the young people who will seize the opportunity to explore new ways to engage and tackle sexual and reproductive health challenges in the country.
Innovation programmes help with the "how-to" build for and "go-to market". Access to markets is a key impediment for young entrepreneurs, one that is normally forgotten.
It is assumed that once one obtains funding and a product that works well, they can easily get customers. Innovation programmes provide market access through industry mentors and partner networks who understand the market and are willing to assist entrepreneurs.
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