MSME Resilience: A New Framework for the New Normal

Abstract

Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which are the socio-economic backbone of most countries, have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments, development agencies, philanthropic foundations, and corporates have all announced several short-term measures to support MSMEs. Most of these welcome interventions are, however, largely stopgap arrangements at best. For the most part, they do not address the medium-term structural challenges and the fundamental vulnerabilities to future stresses that MSMEs will continue to face.In this report, we propose a new resilience framework—consisting of eight reinforcing themes that, in conjunction, can support MSMEs to address these medium-term challenges, thrive, and become resilient