Tanzania, April 14 -- Dar es Salaam. When Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba told Parliament that the government is preparing a legal framework to allow graduates to use academic certificates as collateral for loans, he touched one of the country's deepest youth frustrations: having education, but lacking economic opportunity.

For years, many young Tanzanians have left university with ambition and ideas, only to meet a wall at the bank counter. No land title. No house. No guarantor. No credit history. No loan.

Now, the proposal has triggered a national conversation. To supporters, it could unlock thousands of small businesses. To critics, it raises difficult questions about risk, recovery, fraud and whether certificates should carry monetar...