AI-Powered Intrusion Detection System for SMEs in Zimbabwe: A Critical Literature Review

Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) constitute 60% of Zimbabwe's GDP but face severe cybersecurity challenges. This review examines AI-powered Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) research (2019-2025), identifying critical gaps including the lack of lightweight solutions and insufficient Explainable AI (XAI) integration. The study proposes a hybrid IDS (Random Forest + Suricata + XAI) that addresses these gaps through lightweight architecture (8GB RAM), SHAP-based explanations, on-premises deployment, and Zimbabwe-specific contextualization, with a total cost of $700 versus commercial solutions.