Tracking SMME Development in South Africa: Issues of Finance, Training and the Regulatory Environment

The significance of issues concerning finance, training and regulation has been a continuous thread in South African policy discussions about the development of the country's small, medium and micro-enterprise (SMME) economy for more than a decade. Better access to finance, skills and leadership training and more flexible regulations are identified as key strategic elements in supporting the three national pillars of promoting entrepreneurship; strengthening the enabling environment for SMMEs; and enhanced competitiveness and capacity at the enterprise level. The monitoring of research on the SMME economy in South Africa is viewed as a critical issue of high policy relevance. Against this backcloth, the aim is to provide a synthesis of existing research in South Africa concerning the three important themes of: (1) finance; (2) training and skills acquisition; and (3) the regulatory environment for SMME development. Several research gaps are identified for further analysis.