Government Financial Support for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Africa: A Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis of Impacts on Unemployment, Poverty, and Inequality

This systematic review synthesises evidence on Government Financial Support Programs (GFSPs) for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Africa, examining their impacts on unemployment reduction, poverty alleviation, and inequality reduction. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, the review will search Web of Science and Scopus (2000-2026), with dual-independent screening, Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) quality appraisal, and narrative synthesis complemented by bibliometric analysis using Bibliometrix in R. The primary independent variable is GFSPs (credit, grants, tax incentives, bundled interventions), while primary outcomes include employment generation, poverty indicators, and inequality measures. Secondary analyses will explore moderators including institutional capacity, program design, enterprise characteristics, and geographical context. Based on preliminary scoping, we expect heterogeneous effects contingent on implementation quality, with positive outcomes concentrated in stronger institutional environments, domination of the literature by South Africa and Nigeria, predominance of cross-sectional designs, and fragmented intellectual collaboration networks. The review will produce evidence-informed recommendations stratified by institutional context and identify priority areas for future research, contributing to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) one (1),eight (8), and ten (10) policy discourse. All materials, including protocol, search strings, extraction sheets, and analysis code, will be openly available on OSF to ensure full reproducibility.