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Summary

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are central to Africa’s economic growth, contributing significantly to employment, GDP, industrialization, and food security. With around 125 million MSMEs—both formal and informal—Africa accounts for over 25% of global MSMEs. Despite their importance, MSMEs face structural barriers including limited access to finance, low productive capacity, shortage of skilled personnel, especially science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), inadequate intellectual property (IP) protection, regulatory hurdles, limited ICT infrastructure, and vulnerability to external shocks.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution presents an opportunity for MSMEs to overcome these challenges through ICT and innovation. However, many MSMEs remain excluded from digital transformation due to fragmented ecosystems and a widening digital divide. Strategic investments in Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) are crucial to enhancing MSME productivity, resilience, and integration into value chains. Supporting ICT-enabled MSMEs will be key to creating decent jobs, especially for Africa’s rapidly growing youth population, and to addressing unemployment, inequality, and low productivity.

Placing STEM at the core of education and leveraging IP rights are essential to realizing a digital and inclusive future. In this context, the UN Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA) is convening a virtual webinar on 4 September 2025 to explore how STI can empower MSMEs to embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The event will showcase key findings from OSAA’s draft policy brief and serve as a platform for dialogue. Inputs from the webinar will inform the final policy brief, to be published.

Objectives: The main objectives of the webinar are to (i) generate knowledge, (ii) facilitate knowledge sharing, and (iii) promote collaboration among stakeholders on how to invest in African MSMEs to lead the 4th Industrial Revolution through the adoption of ICT and innovation. 

It will focus on the role of STI in boosting MSMEs' productivity, innovation and resilience, the challenges they face, and strategic approaches to support their growth. By fostering collaboration between governments and the private sector, including MSMEs, the webinar seeks to identify sustainable solutions to enhance MSMEs' capacity to innovate and drive the

African economy in the era of the 4th industrial revolution. The specific objectives are to:

• Provide a timely opportunity to raise awareness of the benefits and challenges of promoting Africa’s MSMEs through leveraging STI, in particular, STEM education and IP; and,
• Identify how Africa’s policy, investment, and innovation ecosystems can be aligned to empower MSMEs as drivers of 4IR across the continent.

Participation is open to government officials from all UN Member States and the African Union, as well as representatives of African regional institutions, the UN system, bilateral and multilateral partners, OSAA Knowledge Network, representatives of women and youth groups, civil society, the private sector, and academia.