Policy Brief: The Role of Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This policy brief examines the potential of Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It includes an analysis of opportunities and challenges for leveraging full potentials of MSMEs in achieving the SDGs, including access to finance, access to basic infrastructure, coherent regulatory framework and investing in women entrepreneurship. This brief also highlights informality as a prominent feature of the MSME sector, as well as its importance as a crucial source of employment and livelihood resources in sub-Saharan African countries.

This paper was prepared under the project ‘Enhancing National Capacities for Unleashing Full Potentials of Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in Developing Countries’, supported by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Sub-Fund of the UN Peace and Development Fund (UNPDF), of which the People’s Republic of China is a major contributor.