Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Small and Medium Scale Businesses in Nigeria
Open Access
Journal Type:Research Article
Subject Field:Business and Economics Research
Downloads:2613
Publish Date:July 23, 2020 8:00 pm
Views:2778
Volume:56, Issue: 1, July, 2020
Subject:Business Studies
Pages:122-129
Abstract
As the world is struggling to fight off the COVID-19 pandemic, counties are witnessing unprecedented economic slowdowns and shutdowns. In Nigeria, the financial crisis is affecting the stability of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs). As the pandemic continues to ravage the country, SMEs are struggling to survive due to the decline in the production volumes and harsh market conditions. Our findings revealed that the cessation of movement, the reduction in consumer spending power, and decrease in imports is negatively affecting Nigerian SMEs. However, there are government policies set in place to protect SMEs, but there is a need for more efforts and interventions to enable them to survive the consequence of the pandemic. However, SMEs should be more proactive in adapting to this new situation.