Abstract
Artificial Intelligence is a popular topic in digital transformation. Many
books and articles have been written on the subject, although most of them cater to
corporations rather than startups. The small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in
Africa represent the economic backbone of the continent, so it is increasingly crucial
that they have access to and can implement these technologies. This chapter provides a
literature overview on the prevalence of AI in SMEs, discussing its current limits and
its impact on enabling SMEs to reap its benefits. In the first place, we present an
overview of the four AI tools and the enablers of AI. A thorough literature review is
then performed on the difficulties associated with it . Finally, future trends and
implications in research and development are summarized, along with future research
topics for making AI an accessible technology to SMEs.