Digital transformation of small and medium enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa : a scoping review
Abstract
The economic activities of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in sub-Saharan Africa
(SSA) drive much of the region’s economic growth and development. Despite their
importance, SMEs tend to fail in their first two years of operation compared to macro
enterprises. Digital transformation (DT) of organisations fosters resilience; however, DT of
SMEs in SSA has been slow because of several impediments. The objective of this article is to
establish how SMEs in the context of SSA can develop comprehensive strategies for
integrating digital technologies into their operations to build resilience. Arksey and
O’Malley’s systematic scoping review (SR) is used to identify and map articles over a 5 year
period using inclusion and exclusion criteria. A total of 44 articles were included for indepth
analysis to address the issue under investigation. The results indicate toward
economy-based, market-based and sociotechnical contextual factors emerging as themes
that impede DT of SMEs in the SSA region. In the SSA context, SMEs face numerous regional
constraints that create barriers in their operations, such as limited access to profitable and
value-added markets.
Transdisciplinarity Contribution: To develop strategies for integrating technologies, it
is critical to have a thorough understanding of SMEs’ operational context. This is vital if
SMEs in the SSA region are to fully realise the transformative potential of integrating
digital technologies into their business operations and gain long-term resilience. Through
digitally enabled resilience, SMEs can continue to play their critical role in the economic
growth and development of the SSA region.
Collections
- TD: 2022 Volume 18 [28]