From skills to markets: The role of local government authorities in enhancing youth employability through TVET clusters in Tanzania

Youth unemployment and informality persist in Tanzania despite sustained economic growth and expanding access to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). While policy reforms have strengthened competency-based training, evidence increasingly suggests that limited market access, rather than skill deficits, is the primary barrier to sustainable employment for TVET graduates. This paper examines the role of Local Government Authorities (LGAs) in enhancing youth employability by linking TVET graduates to structured and predictable markets through public procurement and cluster-based production. Using a qualitative policy and institutional analysis approach, the study draws on national policy documents, procurement regulations, administrative structures, and anonymised stakeholder quotations from TVET institutions, LGAs, public schools, and youth enterprises. The findings reveal that public schools, which are predominantly owned and managed by LGAs, generate recurrent demand for goods and services aligned with TVET graduate skills, including uniforms, furniture, leather products, and minor construction works. However, this demand is rarely institutionalised to support local youth employment due to fragmented coordination, risk-averse procurement practices, and weak integration of financing mechanisms. The study demonstrates that TVET graduate clusters can overcome scale, quality, and compliance constraints faced by individual artisans, while reducing transaction costs for LGAs. It further shows that youth soft loans are most effective when linked to assured procurement contracts rather than provided in isolation. Conceptually, the paper advances a market-anchored employability framework, positioning LGAs as anchor markets that integrate skills development, public procurement, and youth financing. The paper concludes that repositioning LGAs from passive administrators to active market conveners can significantly enhance the employment impact of TVET, with important implications for decentralised governance, procurement reform, and youth employment policy in Tanzania.