Exploring SMEs growth in the greater Banjul area of The Gambia

Abstract

As a driving force of the national economies, Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) remains a major contributor to the GDP of countries around the world. Governments all over the world attach significant importance to sustaining the growth of SMEs because of their major contribution to economic growth. Governments are making countless efforts to improve SMEs performance. The failure rate of SMEs in Sub-Sahara Africa has been documented to be higher in other parts of the world, especially in developing countries. Sub-Sahara African countries like Nigeria, Benin, and Togo have shown constraint of growth in SMEs. Surprisingly, however, there remains scant research conducted to investigate SMEs failure in The Gambia. Therefore, there is a notable paucity of empirical research on SMEs growth constraint in The Gambia. This conceptual paper will explore factors of SMEs failures in The Gambia. As such, the literature review and conceptual design of this paper will make a significant contribution to the researches. The last two sections provide the implication and significance of the paper and some direction of future research. The in-depth literature review would help to avert SMEs failure and provide a better understanding of SMEs growth in The Gambia. Researchers with a specific interest in SMEs growth may find the knowledge in this paper useful in understanding the factors and cultural nuances, and how these factors affect business growths in The Gambia while at the same time adding to the literature in this area which remains considerably limited.