Changing the institutional and policy environment for small enterprise development in Africa

The changes faced by African business people over recent years have provided opportunities in the form of increased export markets and threats in the form of competition from new labour-force entrants. This article, which is adapted from the keynote speech of the conference of donor agencies for small and medium enterprises in Abidjan in 1993, outlines some of the changes that have taken place in many African countries following structural adjustment programmes. It describes changes in the markets in which firms operate, in the business environment and in the institutions affecting small enterprises.