... show that financial and competitive barriers are the main barriers faced by the analyzed MSEs. These barriers vary according to the field of activity of the enterprises. Originality/value This study serves to enrich the state of the art on the subject of smaller enterprises in Africa...

.... In addition, most African countries have adopted export promotion as a development strategy. Yet, Africa’s export performance has remained very poor. This paper argues that obtaining ISO certification and implementing total quality management (TQM) in private and state‐owned organizations in SSA would...