News24: Challenges SMEs face scrutinised

Challenges hampering Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) prosperity will be in the spotlight at the Small Business Institute (SBI) conference in Bryanston, Johannesburg, on Thursday (07/11).

Dysfunctional municipalities, red tape, late payments and lack of political will to create an enabling environment for SMEs are challenges.

According to Bernard Swanepoel, the SBI’s executive director, red tape and late payments remain the “biggest elephants in the room”.

Discussions on SMEs come timeously, as business confidence has tumbled to its lowest level in two decades and South Africa has fallen 56 places over the past 14 years in the Fraser Institute’s study of economic freedom.

Swanepoel says, according to the World Bank, 115 governments launched 294 reforms to address constraints to building more successful economies in 2019.

“Sub-Saharan African countries enacted 73; South Africa is credited with implementing only two.”

by News24 – https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Local/Express-News/challenges-smes-face-scrutinised-20191105