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First, it provides a mapping of growth patterns in Sub-Saharan Africa over the last 20 years. During the last decade we have observed a strong shift towards high and persistent growth in many of the countries in the region. We argue that the most important drivers behind this shift are increased public and private investments, fuelled by an improved business environment, which also propels SME activity. In addition we have experienced a long lasting rise in several commodity prices. Furthermore, India and China have gradually become important investors and trading partners for these countries, adding to already increased export demand from OECD countries. Strong economic growth gives rise to a jump in foreign investment driven by high returns on capital. In fact, Sub-Saharan Africa is the region in the world where US investments have been most profitable during the last 10 years.

Second, we take a closer look at the role of SMEs when developing countries move into a pattern of substantially stronger growth. We show that gradually, these firms play a pivotal role in industrial development and restructuring, satisfying rising local demand for services, allowing for increased specialisation and supporting larger firms with inputs and services. This way, SMEs become engines that sustain growth for long term development. Many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have a large number of SMEs relative to the size of the economy, but these are almost exclusively micro companies and they are often not part of the formal economy. In this report, we are particularly focusing our attention on SME that are larger than micro companies, and either part of or …