An Overview of the SME Industry

Chapter Two includes an overview of the SME industry and the impacts of external events on access to credit. It is important to first understand the technical dynamics behind the SME industry to understand why it is important that additional interventions are made. This chapter delves into the issue of access to finance within the SME space and the current challenges being experienced. There is also an emphasis on access to marketaccess-to-market and exports, in particular (The concept of SME ratings is not confined to access to credit as it can be used as an effective tool to assist in securing business opportunities, we then cover access to market within this chapter as it creates a good setting for the subsequent chapters which focus on different types of ratings which can alleviate this issue). We explore how SMEsSmall and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) contribute to value chains and outline some of the factors that are impeding their direct contributions to overall exports.