Paper Title
An Assessment of Factors Influencing The Success of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMES) in Developing Countries (Case Study: Namibia)

Abstract
The main objective of the study was to assess factors influencing the success of small and medium enterprises in Namibia. Small and Medium enterprises (SMEs) in the suburb of Windhoek which is the capital city of Namibia was used as laboratory test grounds. Primary data were obtained mainly from the use of structured questionnaires, observations and face-to-face interviews from the respondents in order to get vivid information on the factors affecting the success of SMEs in developing countries. However, observations, verbal interviews, including face-to-face interviews were also used in some ways to interpret the data that was obtained from the use of questionnaires. Secondary data used were obtained from, manuals, journals and publications by the commercial banks, Banks of Namibia Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Major factors affecting the success of SME’s in Namibia are not limited to training, finance, government, regulations, access to raw materials, crime and technology. These factors have limited the success and growth of SMEs in Namibia as professed the findings of this study. Though, other minor challenges encountered in this this study that affects the progress of SMEs to fully fledged formal business include poor infrastructure and lack of trust from the suppliers. The study concludes that for Namibia to realize the full potentials of its SMEs, a lot still needs to be done by the Namibian government, including the private entities. Index Terms - Enterprises, Finance, Raw materials, Training .