Assessing the Situation of Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Emerging Markets of Egypt Under COVID-19 Implications

Abstract

Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) play a vital role in emerging economies, thus this research aims at assessing the current situation of Egyptian MSMEs under COVID-19 pandemic and identifying the role of Egyptian MSMEs in economic growth and development. This research adopted qualitative design; 24 semi-structured interviews were conducted with different eco-system stakeholders and MSMEs' managers using content analysis to analyse collected data based on NVivo software. The findings revealed the importance of MSMEs sector in the emerging markets as well as global ones. Additionally, MSMEs play a significant role in enhancing country's economic growth and development, particularly in GDP, job opportunities, domestic products/services, national income, sub-contractor, and individual/society welfare. Furthermore, the findings identify the main challenges that face Egyptian MSMEs under COVID-19 implications through analysing the four main strategic factors and concluded by policy recommendations that could be implemented by MSMEs' owners to take full advantage in the Egyptian context and their contribution on country's economic growth.