Role of ICT for the growth of small enterprises in Ethiopia

Abstract: Small enterprises strive to survive and grow in the business they are involved. They makeefforts to utilize different resources and technologies available to this end as long as it isaffordable and productive. Information Communication Technology or ICT and e-commerceare among those technologies that take the front line. This study asks the question ‘howmuch are Ethiopian small enterprises responsive to ICT and the internet and how much ofthe benefits have they utilized for their growth?’ It takes five small enterprises involved inimport and export business to perform case study research on the issue and examines theirutilization level of the technology. The findings show that small enterprises in the countryare on a very low level of utilizing ICT and e-commerce due to several reasons among whichare scarcity in infrastructure development and expertise in the area coupled with barriersfrom government policy and bank regulations.