Since the economic recovery programme started the economy has shown signs of recovery. The programme comprises a series of policies like devaluation, tighter fiscal management, trade liberalisation and the divestiture of state enterprise.

Within this broad set of policies, there are some which influence the activities of small-scale enterprises and this is the object of this study.

The results of the study are mixed. Throughout the programme new small-scale enterprises have been formed. A greater proportion of entrepreneurs were young and well educated, although most of them were deficient in technical and vocational training, which was found to be critical for some small enterprises.

The results were also mixed on output, sale and employment. The majority of small enterprises experienced increases in output. Yet, the majority of firms did not increase the number of people employed and the increased availability of imports did not have an impact on the demand of products produced by small enterprises.