Digital Technologies for Small and Medium Enterprises and Job Creation in Sub-Saharan Africa Joël Cariolle, David Carroll
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Digital Technologies for Small and Medium Enterprises and job creation in Sub-Saharan Africa Joël Cariolle, David Carroll To cite this version: Joël Cariolle, David Carroll. Digital Technologies for Small and Medium Enterprises and job creation in Sub-Saharan Africa. [Research Report] FERDI. 2020. hal-03004583 HAL Id: hal-03004583 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03004583 Submitted on 13 Nov 2020 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivatives| 4.0 International License fondation pour les études et recherches sur le développement international Chair “Digital Trust” Digital for Development Research Initiative Digital Technologies for Small and Medium Enterprises and job creation in Sub-Saharan Africa Joël CARIOLLE, Research Officer, Foundation for international development study and research (FERDI), Clermont-Ferrand, France. Email: [email protected] David A. CARROLL II, Doctoral student, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tuft University, Boston, USA Email: [email protected] LA FERDI EST UNE FONDATION RECONNUE D’UTILITÉ PUBLIQUE. RECONNUE LA FERDI EST UNE FONDATION ET LA GOUVERNANCE MONDIALE (IDGM). POUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT L’INITIATIVE L’IDDRI ELLE MET EN ŒUVRE AVEC CERDI ET À L’IDDRI. AU LE LABEX IDGM+ QUI L’ASSOCIE ELLE COORDONNE Chair “Digital Trust” Digital for Development Research Initiative Report #3. Digital Technologies for Small and Medium Enterprises and job creation in Sub-Saharan Africa Joël Cariolle, Research Officer, Foundation for International Development Study and Research (Ferdi), Clermont-Ferrand, France. Email: [email protected]. David A. Carroll II, Doctoral student, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tuft University, Boston, USA. Email: [email protected]. 2 Table of Contents Executive summary ..................................................................................................................... 5 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 9 2 The consequences of digitization for SMEs in Sub-Saharan Africa ..................................... 11 2.1 Digital technologies adoption and business operations .................................................... 12 2.2 Digital spillovers ................................................................................................................... 13 2.3 Digital technologies and the “skill-biased technological change” hypothesis in Africa ... 16 3 Overview of African micro, small and medium enterprises: Descriptive evidence ............. 17 3.1 Micro and SME (MSME) characteristics in SSA .................................................................. 18 3.1.1 MSMEs and employment in SSA .................................................................................... 18 3.1.2 Sales and labour productivity of African MSMEs ........................................................... 20 3.1.3 SME export orientation in SSA ....................................................................................... 21 3.1.4 Obstacles to SMEs in Africa ............................................................................................ 22 3.2 Digital technology adoption by African SMEs .................................................................... 24 3.2.1 Information technologies: email and website adoption ................................................ 24 3.2.2 Mobile money adoption and usage ............................................................................... 26 4 SME performance and digitisation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Econometric analysis ............... 29 4.1 Model and Data ................................................................................................................... 29 4.1.1 SME performance (Yi,j,t) .................................................................................................. 30 4.1.2 Variables of interest (DTi,j,t) ............................................................................................ 31 4.1.3 Control variables (Xi,j,t) ................................................................................................... 33 4.2 OLS estimations - baseline estimations .............................................................................. 34 4.2.1 Internet technology adoption and SME performance ................................................... 34 4.2.2 Digital technologies, the manufacturing sector, and skill-biased technological change 35 4.2.3 Spillover effects ............................................................................................................. 38 4.2.4 Mobile money and SME performance ........................................................................... 45 4.3 The causal effects of email use on SME performance ....................................................... 49 4.3.1 Identification strategy .................................................................................................... 49 4.3.2 IV estimations ................................................................................................................ 52 4.4 Main lessons ........................................................................................................................ 59 5 Advancing digital frontiers in West African economies: an in-depth look at African and international firms bringing digital solutions to key market sectors .......................................... 60 5.1 Overcoming logistics and payment modality barriers to bring eCommerce to Africa: the case of Jumia in West Africa ..................................................................................................... 61 5.1.1 Context & Market Failures ............................................................................................. 61 5.1.2 Technology ..................................................................................................................... 61 5.1.3 Deployment & impacts .................................................................................................. 62 5.1.4 Obstacles ....................................................................................................................... 62 5.1.5 Perspectives & Future Directions ................................................................................... 63 5.1.6 Main lessons .................................................................................................................. 63 5.2 Connecting informal economy workers and clients through mobile technology: the case of Lynk in Kenya and implications for West Africa .................................................................. 64 5.2.1 Context & Market Failures ............................................................................................. 64 5.2.2 Technology ..................................................................................................................... 64 5.2.3 Deployment & impacts .................................................................................................. 65 5.2.4 Obstacles ....................................................................................................................... 66 5.2.5 Perspectives & Future Directions ................................................................................... 66 5.2.6 Main lessons .................................................................................................................. 67 3 5.3 Insurtech companies: Using mobile technology and weather data to insure farmers against drought in Sub-Saharan Africa – the case of WorldCover.......................................... 67 5.3.1 Context & Market Failures ............................................................................................. 67 5.3.2 Technology ..................................................................................................................... 68 5.3.3 Deployment & impacts .................................................................................................. 69 5.3.4 Obstacles ....................................................................................................................... 70 5.3.5 Perspectives & Future Directions ................................................................................... 70 5.3.6 Main lessons .................................................................................................................. 71 5.4 Linking truck drivers and owners to cargo in Nigeria: the experience of Kobo360 ......... 71 5.4.1 Context & Market Failures ............................................................................................. 71 5.4.2 Technology ..................................................................................................................... 72 5.4.3 Deployment & impacts .................................................................................................