Determinants of SME Performance in Africa: An Empirical INSGHT

Abstract

Various factors affect firm performance or success in either a positive or negative manner. This paper seeks to investigate empirically, available literature on factors affecting performance of SMEs in African countries. The population for the study was all articles and literature on the subject. The sample size for this paper was 30 previous research studies and articles on SME success Factors in Africa and this was selected randomly. Most of the existing articles reviewed are on countries like Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. The findings discovered certain defects in the way some of the previous studies were conducted such as failure to give theories which will serve as a background and an insight into the objective they are trying to achieve, failure to state the sample size, conduct reliability test as well as acknowledge references used. The findings of the review indicate that access to finance, infrastructure and managerial skills are the key determinants of SME success in and this is followed by technology, education and experience. The study recommends based on the findings of the empirical analysis that; future researchers should provide the supporting theories to their research to help understand the background of the research hypotheses. Researchers should state the sample size of their study as well as the sampling techniques adopted. The sample size should also be large enough to establish generalizations. Researchers should conduct validity and reliability test to show that the same results will be yielded every time the data is tested. All references must be duly acknowledged in the reference section and the referencing style must suit the journal for which it is published.