SMEs can and need to play an important role in securing and creating new jobs, if development programmes revert their focus to job creation with the help of effective trainings and restructured access to finance.

The inability of African firms to implement management practices that conform to basic international standards is a barrier to enter global markets, depressing their productivity and employment creation potential. An agenda to raise management practices to world standards is desirable, but challenging.

Communications-based digital industries have a special model for surviving the familiar SME-killing challenges. Embracing technologies such as the cloud, virtualization, and instant cloning of service platforms, could digital enterprises become the primary engine for sustainable job creation in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Despite being the world’s second fastest-growing region, Africa’s challenge is translating this growth into broad-based improvements in well-being. SMEs development is key to change this.