Publications

African tech hubs play an important role in building fledgling entrepreneurial ecosystems and helping start-ups, but they struggle to earn revenue and become financially sustainable.This second edition has expanded its coverage, adding insights from East African hubs. The report, based on interviews...

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Botswana are engines of job creation with significant potential to foster economic diversification.Drawing on data from the SME Competitiveness Survey, this report shows that improved access to skilled labour has strengthened Botswana companies,...

Selon l’étude conduite par l’ITC, une entreprise interrogée sur trois, dans 17 pays d’Afrique Francophone, a une situation financière délicate.

Thanks to a more services-based economy and the prestige associated with women’s entrepreneurship, new opportunities allow Nigerian women to play a more active role in business.Nigerian businesswomen need support for registration and certification, banking, skills development and flexible work...

Small and medium-sized enterprises in Kenya are an underexploited resource with significant potential to boost inclusive growth.Drawing on data from the SME Competitiveness Survey, this report finds that even though Kenyan companies organize their production processes professionally and have a...

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Zambia play a key role in boosting growth and job creation.Data from the SME Competitiveness Survey shows that: SMEs in the agri-food sector have good capacity to deliver products on time; manufacturing firms are content with the skillset of their...

Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Africa can tackle e-commerce barriers such as formalization, e-payments and delivery by joining forces through collaborative business models. This paper examines the pros and cons of three models – associations, consortiums and cooperatives – and...

Policymakers now have an SME-friendly toolkit to guide national reforms when implementing the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement. Addressing reforms from the perspective of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will spread benefits across the whole business community. By...

Private investment from China into Africa is significant but its potential for increasing local productivity largely underestimated. The main challenge for investors is finding information on the availability and quality of local suppliers.

Small businesses in Saint Lucia are contributing to the country’s export growth. The findings of a new ITC Competitiveness Survey jointly conducted with the country’s Trade Export Promotion Agency (TEPA) provides guidance on how to exploit opportunities in four key sectors: food and beverages,...

Les chances d’exporter pourraient augmenter pour les entreprises de 16 pays d’Afrique francophone, à condition de se conformer aux normes internationales. Parmi les 900 firmes interrogées dans le cadre d’une enquête conjointe de l’ITC et de la Conférence permanente des chambres...