IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ibn/ijbmjn/v16y2023i5p55.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Small and Medium Enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa Region

Author

Listed:
  • Khaled Otman

Abstract

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are now widely recognized as engines of economic development. This paper discusses the importance of SMEs in the MENA economic area and identifies the challenges and barriers facing SMEs in MENA countries. In addition, this study analyses the effects of two 'black swan' Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) phenomena and a decline in oil prices on the economy of MENA in 2020. The current study found that the most significant challenges were identified as lack of access to finance, lack of managerial expertise, inefficiencies of government, lack of a well-trained workforce, inadequate infrastructure, corruption and bureaucratic obstacles. Among these challenges, the lack of access to finance appears to be the major challenge and suggests that future research is required to identify the role of Islamic finance models in the financing of SMEs in MENA countries. This research provides all stakeholders with policy implications intended for enhancing the different features of SME improvement in the MENA region and generally in developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Khaled Otman, 2023. "Small and Medium Enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa Region," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 16(5), pages 1-55, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:ibn:ijbmjn:v:16:y:2023:i:5:p:55
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijbm/article/download/0/0/45060/47734
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijbm/article/view/0/45060
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hande Karadag, 2015. "The Role and Challenges of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Smes) in Emerging Economies: An Analysis from Turkey," Business and Management Studies, Redfame publishing, vol. 1(2), pages 179-188, September.
    2. Mika Pasanen, 2007. "Sme Growth Strategies: Organic Or Non-Organic?," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 15(04), pages 317-338.
    3. Jong-Wha Lee, 2001. "Education for Technology Readiness: Prospects for Developing Countries," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 115-151.
    4. Avery, Robert B. & Bostic, Raphael W. & Samolyk, Katherine A., 1998. "The role of personal wealth in small business finance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(6-8), pages 1019-1061, August.
    5. Shahid Yusuf, 2003. "Innovative East Asia : The Future of Growth," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 15158.
    6. Najia Saqib, 2014. "Institutional Performers for Processing Infrastructure Reforms for SMEs," Business & Entrepreneurship Journal, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 3(2), pages 1-2.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fabbri, Daniela & Menichini, Anna Maria C., 2016. "The commitment problem of secured lending," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(3), pages 561-584.
    2. Lee, Jong-Wha, 2005. "Human capital and productivity for Korea's sustained economic growth," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 663-687, August.
    3. Fofack, Hippolyte, 2008. "Technology trap and poverty trap in Sub-Saharan Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4582, The World Bank.
    4. Laura Barbieri & Daniela Bragoli & Flavia Cortelezzi & Giovanni Marseguerra, 2015. "Public Support to Innovation Strategies," DISCE - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali dises1509, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    5. William M. Gentry & R. Glenn Hubbard, 2000. "Entrepreneurship and Household Saving," NBER Working Papers 7894, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Bodenhorn, Howard, 2003. "Short-Term Loans and Long-Term Relationships: Relationship Lending in Early America," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 35(4), pages 485-505, August.
    7. Michael Manove & A. Jorge Padilla & Marco Pagano, 1998. "Collateral vs. Project Screening: A Model of Lazy Banks," CSEF Working Papers 10, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    8. Matti Pohjola, 2002. "The New Economy in Growth and Development," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 18(3), pages 380-396.
    9. Ruyi Ge & Juan Feng & Bin Gu, 2016. "Borrower’s default and self-disclosure of social media information in P2P lending," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 2(1), pages 1-6, December.
    10. Tensie Steijvers & Wim Voordeckers, 2009. "Collateral And Credit Rationing: A Review Of Recent Empirical Studies As A Guide For Future Research," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(5), pages 924-946, December.
    11. Saibal Ghosh, 2022. "Firm Performance and Productivity: Is Labour an Obstacle?," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 65(3), pages 709-728, September.
    12. Meghnad Desai & Sakiko Fukuda-Parr & Claes Johansson & Fransisco Sagasti, 2002. "Measuring the Technology Achievement of Nations and the Capacity to Participate in the Network Age," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 95-122.
    13. Todo, Yasuyuki & Miyamoto, Koji, 2006. "Knowledge Spillovers from Foreign Direct Investment and the Role of Local R&D Activities: Evidence from Indonesia," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(1), pages 173-200, October.
    14. Madhuri Mahato & Julie Vardhan, 2022. "The spatial distribution of self-employment — evidence from Jharkhand," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 12(1), pages 291-304, December.
    15. Jiří Schwarz & Martin Pospíšil, 2018. "Bankruptcy, Investment, and Financial Constraints: Evidence from the Czech Republic," Eastern European Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(2), pages 99-121, March.
    16. Maria Adelaide Duarte & Marta Simões, 2004. "Human capital, mechanisms of technological diffusion and the role of technological shocks in the speed of diffusion. Evidence from a panel of Mediterranean countries," Notas Económicas, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, issue 20, pages 102-134, December.
    17. Fairlie Robert & Woodruff Christopher M., 2010. "Mexican-American Entrepreneurship," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-44, February.
    18. Ashiqur Rahman & Jaroslav Belas & Tomas Kliestik & Ladislav Tyll, 2017. "Collateral requirements for SME loans: empirical evidence from the Visegrad countries," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(4), pages 650-675, July.
    19. Blom, Andreas & Holm-Nielsen, Lauritz & Verner, Dorte, 2001. "Education, earnings, and inequality in Brazil, 1982-98 - implications for education policy," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2686, The World Bank.
    20. Pasquale Lucio Scandizzo, 2004. "Financing Technology: An Assessment of Theory and Practice," CEIS Research Paper 43, Tor Vergata University, CEIS.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ibn:ijbmjn:v:16:y:2023:i:5:p:55. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Canadian Center of Science and Education (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cepflch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.