The aim of this study is to assess the competitiveness general landscapeof MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) in sub-Saharan Africa throughselected factors driving productivity and effectiveness in doing business, as elementsof the general business environment.Design: To present a general outlook of competitiveness a narrow number of factorswas chosen – public institutions, infrastructure, women in business and strategicpartnership – corresponding to the contents of four Global Competitiveness Index ofthe World Economic Forum pillars (public and private institutions, infrastructure,labor market efficiency, business sophistication). The factors selected – elements ofthe general business environment, have one common feature: all are state-performance-dependent.The scientific method of research in this study, uses primary sources like the GlobalCompetitiveness Report or The World Bank documents and data. Secondary sourcesinclude a number of syntheses, calculations and interpretations of primary sourcespresented by Polish and foreign scientific literature. Primary and secondary sourcesgathered became a base for semiotic and semantic analyses.Findings: The approach in this paper highlights the organization general businessenvironment elements set by the state and their adverse affect on business environmentof MSMEs across the region. Competitiveness’ paths then may be calleddevious.Originality: This study is at the intersection of two different strands relating to organizationtheory: the business environment and competitiveness, and critical managementstudies. A qualitative research, a thorough theoretical approach concernsissues hardly available in Poland.