JONATHAN COOK: Like warthogs need aardvarks, small firms need conducive conditions

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JONATHAN COOK: Like warthogs need aardvarks, small firms need conducive conditions 🔒

What accounts for differences in the success of small and medium enterprises in different countries? According to the Small Business Institute, only 28% of jobs in SA are in small firms, compared with global rates of 60%-70%. That may be exaggerated by how SMEs are measured, but they certainly seem to thrive much more readily in other African countries I visit. Why?

I came across an illustration of this from the creation of the Pilanesberg game reserve. Apparently, when warthogs were reintroduced they died in the first winter. Warthogs do not dig their own burrows, but find shelter in abandoned burrows of other animals, particularly aardvarks . Warthogs need aardvarks — an apparently unrelated species. What do SMEs need? Most obviously, small businesses need to be well fed with money and talent. Their environment needs a market big enough to sustain their growth. It should provide infrastructure — physical infrastructure such as roads, communications infrastructure such as reliable and inexpensive internet, and legal infrastructure that enforces contracts.

Fintech is a growth industry in Africa because rapidly growing internet access has created a market, capital is keen on the idea, experienced engineers are returning to the continent, regulations are facilitative in some countries, and the ecosystem needs reliable and economical money transfers.

 

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