Comparative Growth Factors of Small, Medium, and Large Formal Enterprises in Cote d'Ivoire (Enterprise Development and Microfinance)

Summary

• The study uses data from 361 companies in the World Bank Survey 2016.p.1
• Approximately 90% of the world's businesses are SMEs, or about 400 million entities.p.2
• The share of informal employment in Cote d'Ivoire is estimated at 93.6% of the labor force, reaching 96.3% among women compared with 91.8% among men.p.3
• Cote d'Ivoire recorded 26,948 new businesses created in 2025, a 6% increase compared to 2024.p.3
• The five-year mortality rate for newly created businesses is approximately 37%-40%.p.3
• Small businesses are particularly affected by lack of financing (69.85%), electricity (75%) and informal-sector competition (78.13%).p.12
• Size strata are small (5 to 19 employees), medium (20 to 99 employees) and large (100 or more employees).p.7

Key insights

1. Financing problems and political instability are the main barriers to growth regardless of firm size.p.1
2. Medium-sized businesses are more affected by tax constraints (38.33%), corruption (41.03%) and legal difficulties (33.33%).p.12
3. For large businesses the main obstacles are insecurity (55.56%) and customs regulations (47.62%).p.12
4. Political instability is mentioned by 62 establishments, a concern relatively evenly distributed across company sizes.p.12
5. Firms investing in security show a significant negative impact on growth in both models, stronger in the panel model.p.14
6. Connection to the electricity grid is a significant determinant of growth in the panel model.p.14
7. Female managers show a significant positive effect on firm growth compared with male managers.p.15
8. The financing problem is not significant in explaining growth in the regressions.p.15