Download or read book African Small and Medium Enterprises Networks and Manufacturing Performance written by Tyler Biggs and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2006 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This paper examines the role of private support institutions in determining small and medium enterprise (SME) growth and performance in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It finds that SMEs in SSA get around market failures and lack of formal institutions by creating private governance systems in the form of long-term business relationships and tight, ethnically-based, business networks. There are important links between these informal governance institutions and SME performance. Networks raise the performance of "insiders" and, in the sparse business environments of the SSA region, have attendant negative consequences for market participation of "outsiders," such as indigenous African SMEs. This is indicated through the determinants of access to supplier credit. Policy interventions will be needed to improve the platform for relation-based governance mechanisms and to address the exclusionary effects of tight networks. "

Download or read book African Small and Medium Enterprises Networks and Manufacturing Performance written by Tyler Biggs and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper examines the role of private support institutions in determining small and medium enterprise (SME) growth and performance in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It finds that SMEs in SSA get around market failures and lack of formal institutions by creating private governance systems in the form of long-term business relationships and tight, ethnically-based, business networks. There are important links between these informal governance institutions and SME performance. Networks raise the performance ofinsidersand, in the sparse business environments of the SSA region, have attendant negative consequences for market participation of outsiders, such as indigenous African SMEs. This is indicated through the determinants of access to supplier credit. Policy interventions will be needed to improve the platform for relation-based governance mechanisms and to address the exclusionary effects of tight networks.

Download or read book African Small and Medium Enterprises Networks and Manufacturing Performance written by Tyler Biggs and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper examines the role of private support institutions in determining small and medium enterprise (SME) growth and performance in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It finds that SMEs in SSA get around market failures and lack of formal institutions by creating private governance systems in the form of long-term business relationships and tight, ethnically-based, business networks. There are important links between these informal governance institutions and SME performance. Networks raise the performance of "insiders" and, in the sparse business environments of the SSA region, have attendant negative consequences for market participation of "outsiders," such as indigenous African SMEs. This is indicated through the determinants of access to supplier credit. Policy interventions will be needed to improve the platform for relation-based governance mechanisms and to address the exclusionary effects of tight networks.

Download or read book African small and medium enterprises networks and manufacturing perfomance written by Tyler Biggs and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Industrial Clusters and Micro and Small Enterprises in Africa written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2010-12-30 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The World Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Research Institute, and the Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development (FASID), in collaboration with researchers affiliated with the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), recently conducted a study on Africa s domestic enterprises to improve the understanding of the constraints micro and small enterprises in Africa face in improving productivity and expanding their markets. In Africa, there are stark performance gaps between domestically owned enterprises and foreign-owned enterprises in terms of sales performance, productivity, and ability to reach distant markets. Among others, size appears to be a dominant factor in explaining the gap. Against this background, the study analyzes how naturally formed industrial clusters concentrations of enterprises engaged in same or closely related industrial activities in specific locations could potentially mitigate constraints Africa s micro and small enterprises face and enhance their business performance. The study is one of the first comprehensive quantitative inquiries on industrial clusters in Africa. The analysis specifically focuses on the role of spontaneously grown clusters of light manufacturing industries based on a set of original case studies of industrial clusters conducted for this research project. One of the key findings from the case studies was that cluster-based micro and small enterprises are performing better than similar micro and small enterprises outside of the clusters in terms of sales performance and ability to reach distant markets. Market access is a leading reason for cluster-based enterprises to choose their current locations. However, cluster-based enterprises face another set of unique growth constraints. By the very nature of spontaneous agglomera tion, new enterprises continue to flow to the clusters seeking the profit opportunities and better access to markets at such locations. The result can be intense competition in addition to increased congestion. Space constraints often impede growth within clusters. The lack of alternative locations available for industrial activities in the same cities, generic infrastructure bottlenecks, and unclear zoning policies and their unpredictable changes limit firms location choices and constrain their mobility. While competition should improve efficiency, lack of capacity among those competing cluster-based enterprises to invest and innovate does not generate growth out of the competition. The vast majority of naturally formed clusters of light manufacturing industries in Africa are still at a survival level, where agglomeration externalities are only limited to expand quantity but not quality as we observe in more advanced innovation-oriented clusters in elsewhere in the world. Existing studies on such natural industrial clusters in Africa have found that the lack of managerial skills among entrepreneurs running micro and small enterprises is a major constraint for innovation and growth in the clusters. As a part of this study, pilot managerial skills training programs were conducted in two industrial clusters on an experimental basis, where a group of randomly selected entrepreneurs within the clusters were given three-week long crush course of based management such as bookkeeping, marketing, business planning, and production management. The impact evaluation of the experiments showed significant positive impacts of the training programs on value added and gross profits of enterprises. Raising the current survival-type industrial clusters, which have been formed as a coping mechanism to weak investment climate, into more dynamic innovating clusters will be an important avenue for fostering growth of micro and small enterprises in Africa. While national efforts to improve investment climate and investments in human capital are undoubtedly important, there could be more targeted policies to be formulated, in complementing general policies, to support growth of micro and small domestic enterprises using existing industrial clusters as a natural springboard for their growth. In that context, the study discusses the merit of cluster-based managerial human capital development to build steps toward more innovation-oriented clusters, the importance of sound spatial planning policy, particularly at the local level in the context of urban planning, the need to expand market access and economic linkages for industrial clusters including regional integration and linkages with large enterprises.

Download or read book African SMES Networks and Manufacturing Performance written by Tyler Biggs and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Performance of Manufacturing Firms in Africa written by Hinh T. Dinh and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2012-08-21 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents empirical analyses of manufacturing firm performance in Africa based on the World Bank Enterprise Survey and on a one-time quantitative survey conducted for the World Bank by the Center for the Study of African Economies of Oxford University.

Download or read book Structural Aspects of Manufacturing in Sub Saharan Africa written by Tyler Biggs and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1996-01-01 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Urban Management Programme Paper No. 20. Reviews the specific actions that municipalities and city governments may take in contributing to urban poverty reduction. The paper highlights example of issues, options, and constraints that urban governments must address in fighting poverty. It focuses on municipalities and other city-level government entities as a critical institutional level of intervention. Other language editions available: French--Stock No. 13814 (ISBN 0-8213-3814-5); Spanish--Stock No. 13813 (ISBN 0-8213-3813-7).

Download or read book Small and Medium Sized Enterprises SMEs and Poverty Reduction in Africa written by Ameen Alharbi and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2015-06-18 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Poverty Reduction in Africa addresses the vital question of why the millions of dollars of governments’ and international development interventions in the SMEs sector are yet to deliver significant and sustainable employment and poverty reduction in Africa. The book also addresses the question of how the SMEs sector can help in the eradication of poverty in Africa. The book also tackles the question of what policy makers, SMEs operators, would-be entrepreneurs and trainers can do to contribute to poverty reduction through the SMEs sector. To address these three key questions, the book has adopted innovative concepts and ideas that will appeal to the sensibilities of African policy makers, trainers, business operators and would-be entrepreneurs. For example, the existing literature on system thinking and spirituality in business is used to offer a novel approach and departure from the perennial focus on “technical training” and hardnosed pursuit of “individualised” business and personal goals as a means of developing entrepreneurs and crafting SMEs policy. The key features of the book are: • a focus on changing the mind-set of SMEs operators, policy makers, trainers and would-be entrepreneurs; • contextualising the role of SMEs in poverty reduction by emphasizing the relevance of the African worldview, belief systems and spirituality during policy making, policy implementation and training of SMEs operators and would-be entrepreneurs; • theoretical explanations to why good intentions in policy formulation and implementation do not deliver expected outcomes in terms of the SMEs sector’s contribution to poverty reduction; • practical guidelines on how SMEs can develop a poverty-related mission statement, business strategy and business plan within the context of poverty reduction; • personal development guidelines for SMEs operators and prospective entrepreneurs on how to develop poverty-related personal mission statements and strategies; • the introduction of spiritual poverty and system thinking as the foundation for policy formulation and poverty reduction interventions in Africa.

Download or read book What Have We Learned from a Decade of Manufacturing Enterprise Surveys in Africa written by Arne Bigsten and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2005 with total page 43 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In the early 1990s the World Bank launched the Regional Program on Enterprise Development in several African countries, a key component of which was the collection of manufacturing firm-level data. In this paper the authors review the research based on the data sets generated by these and subsequent firm surveys in Africa, with a special view to what they think are the most important policy implications. The authors survey the research on the African business environment, focusing on market size, risk, access to credit, labor, and infrastructure. They cover the research on how firms choose to organize themselves and how firms do business. They review the research on firm performance, including firm growth, investment and technology acquisition, and exports. They conclude with an extended discussion of the policy lessons. "--World Bank web site.

Download or read book Light Manufacturing in Africa written by Hinh T. Dinh and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2012-02-23 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues that light manufacturing can offer a viable solution for Sub-Saharan Africa, given potential competitiveness based on low wage costs and an abundance of natural resources that supply raw materials needed for industries.

Download or read book Improving Manufacturing Performance in South Africa written by Avril Joffe and published by IDRC. This book was released on 1995 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Improving Manufacturing Performance in South Africa

Download or read book Inclusive Global Value Chains written by Ana Paula Cusolito and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2016-08-23 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report's focus is making global value chains (GVCs) more inclusive. To achieve inclusiveness is by overcoming participation constraints for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and facilitation access for Low Income Developing Countries (LIDCs). The underlying assumption is that most firms in LIDCs are SMEs. Even larger firms in LIDCs are likely to face similar challenges to SMEs, including a less supportive domestic operating environment and weaker institutions that lead to higher fixed costs and challenges to compete on the international markets. The two major points of this report are (1) participation in GVCs is heterogeneous and uneven, across and within countries, and (2) available data and survey-based evidence suggest that SMEs’ participation in GVCs is mostly taking place through indirect contribution to exports, rather than through exporting directly. The report makes the case that policy action, at the national and multilateral level, can make a difference in achieving more inclusive GVCs through: a holistic approach to reform spanning trade, investment, and domestic policies countries and investments in expanding the statistical base and analysis of GVCs and in sharing knowledge on best practices on enabling policies and programs. The report elaborates on three broad areas of recommendations: (1) establishing a trade and investment action plan for inclusiveness defining clear and achievable objectives on trade and investment policy and identifying the necessary complementary domestic policy actions; (2) complementing trade, investment, and domestic policy actions by providing the needed political leadership and support to enhance collaboration across the sectors, and establishing global platforms for sharing best practices; and (3) providing political support for the establishment of a multi-year plan to expand and upgrade the statistical foundation necessary to increase the capacity of all countries to identify and implement policies that can contribute to stronger, more inclusive and sustainable growth and development, globally.

Download or read book Small Enterprises written by Dorothy McCormick and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the role of small flexible firms in the context of recent theories of industrialization that emphasize the complementarity of large and small firms, the importance of the physical and institutional environment, and the interdependencies of various economic actors.

Download or read book What Matters to African Firms written by Alan Gelb and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2008 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: Can perceptions data help us understand investment climate constraints facing the private sector? Or do firms simply complain about everything? In this paper, the authors provide a picture of how firms' views on constraints differ across countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys database, they find that reported constraints reflect country characteristics and vary systematically by level of income-the most elemental constraints to doing business (power, access to finance, ability to plan ahead) appear to be most binding at low levels of income. As countries develop and these elemental constraints are relaxed, governance-related constraints become more problematic. As countries move further up the income scale and the state becomes more capable, labor regulation is perceived to be more of a problem-business is just one among several important constituencies. The authors also consider whether firm-level characteristics-such as size, ownership, exporter status, and firms' own experience-affect firms' views on the severity of constraints. They find that, net of country and sector fixed effects and firm characteristics, firms' views do reflect their experience as evidenced by responses to other questions in surveys. The results suggest that there are both country-level and firm-level variations in the investment climate. Turning to the concept of "binding constraints," the Enterprise Surveys do not generally suggest one single binding constraint facing firms in difficult business climates. However, there do appear to be groups of constraints that matter more at different income levels, with a few elemental constraints being especially important at low levels and a few regulatory constraints at high levels, but a difficult range of governance-related constraints at intermediate levels. Adjusting to a constraint does not mean that firms then do not recognize it-for example, generator-owning firms are not distinguishable from other firms when ranking electricity as a constraint. Overall, firms do appear to discriminate between constraints in a reasonable way. Their views can provide a useful first step in the business-government consultative process and help in prioritizing more specific behavioral analysis and policy reforms.

Download or read book Corporate Governance for Small and Medium Sized Businesses in African Economies written by Dr. Chinyere Almona and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2020-09-24 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: SMEs play a vital role in the growth of economies and are often described as the engine of economic development. However, SMEs in emerging markets struggle to survive and grow for a variety of reasons, including a lack of finance and management skills. Most of the growth-constraining factors in small businesses can be traced to weak corporate governance (CG) practices. As a seasoned practitioner in the field of corporate governance, Dr. Almona sees the need to build capacity to enhance sustainability in the SME sector. SMEs need to understand that CG is not a destination but a journey SMEs need to grow and mature into CG practices that are relevant to their stage of business. SME owner-managers need to understand and adapt to the level of formality expected and required by potential employees and providers of funds. This book provides ways and models that will encourage the adoption of sound corporate governance principles and practices for SMEs in Africa, to the benefit of society.

Download or read book The African Manufacturing Firm written by Ata Mazaheri and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2005-11-02 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book provides a useful source of greater understanding of African manufacturing firms and the perplexing lack of widespread industrial growth during the post-colonial decades.