The SDG 8 is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals which were established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. Its mission statement is to “Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”.
SDG 8 has 12 targets to be achieved by 2030, one of which is to foster sustainable and higher levels of economic productivity through product diversification, technological upgrading and innovation.
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) provide significant contributions to economic growth in Africa but unfortunately, a large number of this category of businesses are still experiencing various forms of retardation. In recent years, multiple shocks, including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition with other factors, has led to the closing down of large numbers of SMEs in Africa. Currently, the landscape of SDG 8 in Africa is a dynamic tapestry, reflecting both challenges and promising initiatives.
In recent years, there have been numerous challenges posed in achieving SDG 8 in Africa, one of which is technological advancements such as automation and artificial intelligence. These rapid advancements in technologies and digital procedures, rather than creating a means for the attainment of higher levels of economic productivity has rather created a wide gap and have raised concerns about job and SMEs displacement and aggravation of existing inequalities, especially with the current low rate of digital literacy in a high populations of Africans, which constitute of SMEs business owners and key operations personnel in Africa.
In a bid to resolve the growing concern of the adverse impact of technologies and digitalization on SMEs and the full actualization of the SDG 8 goal in Africa, it is imminent to put in place initiatives and programs that seek to educate and promote digital inclusiveness and sensitization on sustainability via leveraging on digital technologies for SMEs across Africa, as technology has been proven as one of the keys for growth and sustainability.