‘Technology Will Enhance SMEs’ Operations’

The 2020 World Bank Doing Business report, which was recently released, has shown that the overall business climate in sub-Saharan Africa was steadily improving.

The report, however, insisted that technology deployment would enhance Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) business in Africa.

Analysing the report, the Head of Strategic Partnerships at Microsoft 4Afrika, Soromfe Uzomah, said: “Looking at the ease of starting and maintaining a business, the region as a whole improved one percentage point over the last year, with a few standout countries.

“Mauritius and Rwanda rank among the top 20 coun

TELECOM

tries globally, while Nigeria and Togo are among the top global improvers.”

According to him, last year, countries across the region implemented 73 reforms, removing certain red tapes and obstacles for SMEs.

“While this is positive development, sub-Saharan Africa is still classified as a weak-performing region overall, with an average ease of doing business score of 51.8, which is below the global average of 63.0.”

He added: “Small businesses continue to battle with challenges including unreliable electricity, property registration, tax payment and debt management. But one trend is clear: As levels of internet access, technology adoption and digital innovation improve, so do many of these challenges.”

Addressing the enabling power of technology, Uzomah said the use of online systems for tax filing, for instance, improved the ease of doing business scores in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mauritius and Togo. “Nigeria also introduced the e-payment of trade fees, reducing the time to import and export, and an online platform for registering businesses, strengthening its ranking.

“Globally, markets that scored the highest in the report all have widespread use of electronic platforms.

“Digital platforms are able to more quickly process and streamline administrative tasks, giving SMEs back precious time and money to focus on doing, and growing, business. “Removing the burden of paperwork and long queues also has an incredible motivating factor. When the Kenya Copyright Board worked with Microsoft to develop an online, automated platform to help SMEs register intellectual property (IP), registrations increased by 100 per cent. “Additionally, one study found

“e-Government is all about digital economy and that is why the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and its parastatals have been mandated to implement e-Government in Nigeria and the Federal Executive Council has approved e-government master plan for the country” Minister of Communications and Digital Economy,