In a bid to restructure the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States, with a view of ensuring efficiency; several recommendations have been made, including inter alia the need for the reduction of the number of statutory appointed positions across all institutions of the Commission.

One of the institutions affected by this proposed reduction is the ECCJ. It is proposed that the total number of judges at the Court be reduced from the current seven (7), to five (5) judges.

This proposal – which will have the impact of essentially “dismantling the community court”8 – cannot be justified because:

Dans le cadre de la restructuration de la Commission de la Communauté Economique des Etats de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, en vue d'en assurer l’efficacité ; plusieurs recommandations ont été formulées, dont, entre autres, la nécessité de réduire le nombre de postes statutaires dans toutes les Institutions de la Commission.

L'une des Institutions concernées par cette proposition de réduction est la CJC. Il est prévu que le nombre total de juges à la Cour soit réduit de sept (7) à cinq (5).

Cette proposition – qui aura essentiellement pour effet « le démantèlement de la Cour communautaire » – ne peut être justifiée, pour les raisons suivantes :

L'objectif de ce policy brief est d'informer les entreprises, les banques et l'État sur l'influence du crédit bancaire sur la performance des entreprises tchadiennes à l'ère pétrolière. Spécifiquement, il montre que le crédit bancaire est un levier de la performance économique (chiffre d'affaires) et sociale (effectif des employés) des entreprises tchadiennes.

La présente recherche a pour objectif d'analyser la compétitivité de l'industrie agroalimentaire au Cameroun. Au niveau sectoriel, l'évolution du commerce des produits alimentaires et de la valeur ajoutée est examinée, tandis qu'au niveau de l'entreprise, un modèle économétrique de la productivité du travail est évalué par type d'entreprise (très petite et petites entreprises – TPPE –, moyennes entreprises – ME – et grandes entreprises – GE). Les résultats indiquent un avantage comparatif limité se traduisant par la position d'importateur net et une orientation du commerce vers l'interbranche du  Cameroun.

Dans les deux pays étudiés, les résultats issus des analyses des données collectées auprès d'entrepreneurs et des porteurs des projets de création d'entreprises et des analyses des entretiens approfondis  avec les responsables de mise en œuvre des politiques et programmes concernant l'entrepreneuriat et les femmes entrepreneures confortent l'idée selon laquelle les obstacles à l'entrepreneuriat féminin résident au niveau contextuel plus qu'au niveau individuel.

Nous tentons de cerner les déterminants de la « qualité » de la gouvernance d'entreprise et d'investiguer empiriquement le lien entre la rentabilité durable de 120 entreprises familiales camerounaises et  trois indicateurs (la taille de l'équipe dirigeante, la concentration de la propriété et l'âge du dirigeant). Pour atteindre notre objectif, nous avons apprécié la « qualité » de la gouvernance par un score  d'efficience basé sur la méthode d'analyse de l'enveloppement des données (AED). Les résultats montrent que l'amélioration de la qualité de la gouvernance et partant, de la rentabilité serait tributaire de  la taille de l'équipe dirigeante et de la concentration du capital.

This policy brief presents evidence that SME internationalisation is at very low level in Zimbabwe. It identifies the major factors that are inhibitors of SME internationalisation in the manufacturing sector,  including negative attitudes by SME owner/managers, lack of international market knowledge, risk perception by owner/ managers, inadequate financial resources, poor networks and unfavourable  regulation. Furthermore, it outlines the actions the government and industry associations need to take to improve the performance of manufacturing SMEs through internationalisation. It is recommended  that government should work closely with SME associations to better understand their resource needs.

The objective of this study was to identify profitable and viable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which could form a basis for a youth economic empowerment programme in the crisis-torn Niger  Delta Region. Data analysed formed a basis for identifying profitable enterprises, and preparing financial proposals. The proposals can be used to source funds, which would enable youth to either work with  the identified SMEs or expand existing ones.

According to the National Development Plan (NDP), fish farming in Uganda presents immense opportunities for socio-economic development, in terms of livelihood, income, and employment. The need  for the National Investment Policy for Aquaculture Parks in Uganda arose out of public demand for guidance on the investment in commercial scale aquaculture. Stakeholders in aquaculture demanded public guidance and support for implementation of the Aquaculture Parks Concept that is prioritized in Development Strategy and Investment Plan (DSIP) within the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and  Fisheries (MAAIF).

Although Uganda has undertaken several strategic interventions since the oil discovery in 2006, specific interventions that promote local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to invest in the oil and gas value chain remain a challenge. In particular, a gap exists on available opportunities for SMEs to participate in the value chain, including potential business linkages and partnerships. In addition, there are  constraints that deter their competitive advantage. It is important to identify these constraints and convert them into opportunities to realise both the local content and the national oil and gas policy objectives.

This policy brief outlines growth and innovation options available to the Government of Kenya with regard to womenowned enterprises. More specifically, it presents options on the efficiency and  sustainability of the Women Enterprise Fund (WEF), a government initiative aimed at promoting enterprise development among women. This policy brief also accompanies a report analysing expert  interviews, surveys with the managers and beneficiaries of WEF, and secondary evidence.

Despite the dynamic role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana's development, managers of these enterprises face several risks in their businesses. The occurrence of these risks may have  a disastrous effect on the entrepreneurs' toiled effort for business success, if not managed.

Drawing from World Bank Investment Climate surveys, the main objective of Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) studies is to develop a better understanding of the constraints to investment and  sustained productivity growth in a given country.

This study investigated the effects of investment climate on manufacturing firms' growth in Uganda using pseudo panel data. The low and stagnant level of manufacturing in the Gross Domestic Product  within most African countries has been widely recognized to be an important policy problem.

This policy brief examines the impact of microfinance service delivery on the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Eastern Uganda. The objectives of the study were as follows:  Establish whether MFIs service delivery lead to growth of business capital and stock accumulation; determine the affect of growth of employment of the business; influence of socioeconomic characteristics on the  growth of SMEs; and realize the constraining factors to accessing Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) services by SMEs.

The production and marketing of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables (FFV) has become an important economic activity for women in Zimbabwe for their livelihoods, income earning and food security. This brief  discusses the factors that affect women’s competitiveness in the FFV sector.

This policy brief outlines policy actions the Government of Uganda, and other stakeholders, can take to help mitigate the perennial problem of limited access to finance by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It also outlines policy actions necessary to improve the SMEs' ability to forge effective business linkages with large FDI firms.

Liberia was making frantic efforts towards achieving food security through improvements in smallholder farmers' productivity. However, the 1989-2003 civil conflict destroyed the economic life of the  country, and reversed the positive trend towards food security. This situation undermined the growth of smallholder farmers' entrepreneurship.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are an important sub-sector for the Kenyan economy. It employs about 85 percent of the Kenyan workforce (about 7.5 million Kenyans of the country's total employment). The current constitution  provides a new window of opportunity to address SME-related issues through regulatory and institutional framework under the devolved government system, as well as the new SME Act.

Much of the interest in women’s entrepreneurship worldwide has been fuelled by the potential role they can play in economic development (Chamlou and Yared, 2005, Fielden and Davidson 2005). This  research investigates the possible problems businesswomen still face in Sudan, notwithstanding the government’s policies to promote businesswomen.