La clé de la croissance du continent – Le Jeune Indépendant

In the continuity of the fourth edition of the intra-African trade fair (IATF 2025), several Algerian and foreign experts animated, this Saturday, a panel devoted to the integration of small and medium-sized African companies (SMEs) African in the regional and global markets, by highlighting the structural challenges faced by the economic actors, as well as the tracking tracks envisaged at the national level continental.

The director of SMEs at the Ministry of Industry, Mohamed Ben Youcef Ben Bouali, said that Algeria intends to reaffirm its historic commitment in Pan -Africanism. “Africa to Africans,” he said, in a speech read on behalf of the Minister of Industry, citing the President of the Republic, before insisting on the need to strengthen the competitiveness of local businesses.

According to this manager, the African economic fabric is largely dominated by very small structures. In 2020, the World Bank had identified 240 million companies on the continent, of which only 12.7 % employed staff. In other words, 99 % of companies in Africa are micro-enterprises of one to three employees. However, a figure inspires optimism, 27 % of entrepreneurs are women, one of the highest rates in the world, illustrating their determining contribution to local economies.

Algeria relies on a legislative arsenal to stimulate the development of its SMEs. Law 17-02 on the development of SMEs and the investment code promulgated in 2022 (law 22-18) aim to establish a dialogue between the State, as a facilitator, and economic operators, in order to identify the shortcomings whether it be training, legal framework, or flow of goods, and respond jointly.

Support also involves tax and parafiscal incentives, promoting innovation and integration of tools related to sustainable production and circular economy.

At the continental level, the speakers recalled that SMEs represent 95 % of the companies registered in sub-Saharan Africa, employ 80 % of the workforce and contribute for almost half to GDP. “They are not a simple statistic, but the engine of our savings,” said a panelist, highlighting the reforms brought by the African continental free trade area (ZLECAF), which aims to lift the barriers to trade and to modernize the business climate.

Funding pitfall

The question of funding remains one of the main obstacles, according to experts. To answer it, the African Export African Bank (Afrexim Bank) has set up a development program for exporting SMEs. More than $ 18 billion has been mobilized, largely to support companies involved in regional trade, with particular attention for initiatives led by young people and women.

Beyond direct funding, Afreximbank multiplies partnerships with local banks, NGO A non -governmental organization (NGO) is a non -profit association, of public interest, which is neither the state of the state, nor of international institutions and development institutions to adapt its solutions to the various SME profiles.

If initiatives are multiplying, the path remains long to allow African SMEs, and Algerian in particular, to cross a CAP in terms of competitiveness and international integration. The challenge is to transform these millions of micro-enterprises into solid actors capable of weighing permanently in regional and global value chains.