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Marrakech — As GITEX Africa 2025 was preparing to wrap up its third edition in Marrakech, a distinguished panel of experts convened to address the critical topic of “Digitizing the African MSMEs Ecosystem.”
The session explored how digital solutions can transform operations for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that constitute the backbone of African businesses with nearly 90%.
Zainab Oumeryem, Head of Regulatory Monitoring and Research Unit at Bank Al-Maghrib in Morocco, challenged conventional wisdom about MSME obstacles. “The problem goes beyond digitization,” she explained, pointing to structural issues that small businesses face.
Drawing on World Bank research, she noted that contrary to popular belief, “only 4% of Moroccan companies cite access to financing as their main problem.”
Meanwhile, Oumeryem raised the administrative burdens and poor organizational structure as primary challenges to the integration of digitization of MSMEs.
She positioned digital transformation as a solution rather than a goal in itself, saying: “For me, digitization is a tool that should help overcome these challenges,” she said, explaining how it can “strengthen transparency” and better structure operations internally.
For his part, Raliat Sunmonu, Vice President for Middle East and Africa at Accion Nigeria, raised concerns about inclusivity in the digital transformation process.
She warned that despite its benefits, digitization risks “leaving behind many small businesses because of the way in which we’re doing the digitization .”
Sunmonu also pointed to the need for affordable, accessible solutions that fully empower small businesses to participate effectively in the economy.
Meanwhile, Elias Yazbeck, COO of Open Innovation and Fintech at AXIAN Group, focused on the necessity of reaching underserved businesses.
He pointed out that many MSMEs aren’t formally registered, limiting their access to financial infrastructure available in more developed markets.
Yazbeck talked about how their mobile wallet proposition serves over 20 million active users and thousands of merchants across Africa.
He also said that despite digital advancements, informal channels remain dominant: “Facebook in social media has more transactions than formal transactions because they don’t have the movements to address that form.”
His insight signals the importance of meeting MSMEs where they already operate rather than imposing external solutions.
Together, these experts painted a comprehensive picture of both the challenges and opportunities in digitizing Africa’s vital MSME ecosystem.
