Businesses in South Africa pinning hopes to some growth in 2024 –

South Africa’s small and medium enterprises’ (SME) confidence that their businesses will grow in the next 12 months has gone down by five percentage points.

However, SMEs are also said to be gaining some faith in initiatives implemented by both the public and private sectors to create a better business environment.

This is according to Business Partners Limited’s latest SME Confidence Index, a survey that seeks to understand what is and is not keeping SMEs in the country afloat, as well as what the social and economic issues affecting them are.

Author of the document and general manager for Impact Investing David Morobe, said, “as we kickstart the new year, the impact of load shedding and low growth economic trajectory on [SMEs] confidence is apparent.”

However, despite the dampening of spirits regarding growth, survey respondents reported a 62% confidence level that the local economy will be conducive to business growth in the next 12 months – a 7% increase from the previous quarter.

SMEs are seen as being more confident about the efforts of both the government and private sector in fostering their development.

Confidence levels in the government increased by 12% from the previous quarter and 4% from last year, now standing at 59%. Meanwhile, SMEs’ confidence in the private sector increased by 7% from the previous quarter and 3% from last year, now standing at 62%.

“Overall, the latest survey results paint a picture of an SME community that is gaining some confidence in initiatives implemented by both the public and private sectors during the period to create a more enabling business environment,” said Morobe.

“As always, these results illustrate the sector’s unwavering resilience and the determination of local entrepreneurs to push through whatever challenges they encounter,” he added.

Morobe pinpoints the increase in government confidence in various initiatives in the pipeline seeking to bolster the sector and provide it with much-needed support, such as the National Small Enterprise Amendment Bill and the establishment of the Small Enterprise Development Finance Agency.

“The state has a vested interest in ensuring that small businesses have the resources they need to thrive,” said Morobe.

“It is therefore encouraging to see these movements in the SME landscape. We anticipate that with this more consolidated approach to fostering SME growth, private sector players and other industry stakeholders will have better sense of direction and a clearer blueprint on how they can contribute towards a pro-growth economic environment.”

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