A Master of Business Administration (MBA) thesis by Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) procurement officer Nomhle Sinxoto was so impressive that an international publishing house has turned it into a book.

The thesis titled "The role of the small medium and micro-sized enterprise in the socio-economic development of Buffalo City" outlines the challenges of SMMEs as agents of job and wealth creation as well as interventions and programmes to solve problems.

The book, which is available on Amazon.com, has generated a fair amount of interest and enthusiasm in the business fraternity and it has begun to attract positive feedback on many areas of business interest.

"Financial institutions can use the book as relevant research material to help business advisors to provide proper advice and aftercare services to SMMEs. It can also serve as a platform to voice SMME challenges so that government and business are better positioned to channel proper interventions and programmes to circumvent problem areas.

"I chose this topic because I felt a need to make a significant contribution towards the socio-economic development of SMMEs. I felt the thesis will serve as a source of knowledge and understanding of business imperatives and challenges for small businesses," says Sinxoto.

ECDC chief executive officer Mxolisi Matshamba says the corporation is excited that one of its staff has made a significant contribution in one of the organisation's key focus areas.

"We are pleased that Nomhle is actively contributing towards intellectual property that will help ECDC and other institutions better understand the unique needs of SMMEs.

"SMME development is central to job and wealth creation. Small businesses have a major developmental impact which will be felt throughout the Eastern Cape. ECDC understands the historical lack of access of small to medium enterprises to finance, hence we have moved away from collateral lending, and we now use adequate management capacity and business viability as key criteria," says Matshamba.

Matshamba says ECDC will definitely tap into Nomhle's research to ensure that the organisation's services talk to the specific needs of emerging entrepreneurs.

Sinxoto, who co-authored the thesis with Ronney Ncwadi, a Phd candidate and lecturer at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), says she was skeptical and puzzled when she received an email from German publishers VDM Verlag requesting permission to publish her thesis as a book.

"At first I thought someone was playing a joke on me. I am thrilled and humbled with the possibility that my work will make a significant contribution to socio-economic development. I am hoping to launch the book in South Africa soon.

"When I registered for the degree part-time in 2002 at NMMU I had no idea that eight years later it would be published at an international platform where it can be accessed by academics and students," says a beaming Sinxoto.

Sinxoto, who received the degree last year, collected her data from 28 SMMEs in Buffalo City Municipality who responded to her questionnaire. They were from Mdantsane, Gonubie, Southernwood, Vince and Beacon Bay.

She says universities can use the book as a point of reference to understand small businesses and in turn they will be able to provide relevant study material, business solutions and propose solutions to key challenges.