Understanding the impact of innovation and other business support interventions on SMEs’ development – Lessons from sub-Saharan Africa from an evidence-based review

Small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play significant roles in economic growth, development, and job creation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study employed a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach to identify empirical evidence on the impact of innovation and business support activities on SMEs’ performance across countries in SSA. Based on geographic concentration and approaches, the study focused on 48 articles that evaluated programmes aimed at supporting SMEs in SSA. The results show that, on average, innovation and support programmes had positive implications on firm performance, employment generation, export performance and labour productivity. Furthermore, socioeconomic factors and inclusivity, technical expertise of employees, access to finance and credit, firm’s social capital and enabling government policies among others were found to drive successful integration of innovation and business support programmes and its subsequent impacts among SMEs. Few of the studies identified focused on equity, diversity, and inclusivity issues. The study concludes that unlocking the region’s growth potential will require bridging the credit gap, strengthening SME value chains and boosting productivity through digitalization, technology adoption, and adaptation. Further studies should pay attention to equity, diversity, and inclusivity issues, as well as embed both qualitative and quantitative approaches in the enquiry of programme impact.