COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND ECONOMIC CRISIS IN NIGERIA: THE EXPERIENCE OF SELECTED MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES IN LAGOS AND OSUN STATES

Abstract

The world was thrown into the worst economic crisis since World War II in the first quarter of 2020 following the outbreak of covid-19 in Wuhan China. The pandemic forced many economies in the world to lockdown making economic activities to come to a standstill. Nigeria Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) have been the worst hit by this crisis due to the fragile nature of Nigeria economy before the lockdown. Considering the enormous contributions of this sector to the Nigerian economy, it is obvious that anything that affects this sector would automatically affect the entire microeconomic landscape in the country. This study therefore investigated how covid-19 lockdown affected MSMEs in Nigeria. The study used purposive and simple random sampling to choose twenty industries and sixty participants (managerial level) within Lagos and Osun States to participate in this study. Using descriptive analysis, it was discovered that the lockdown which lasted for more than five months ( March- August,) 2020 has affected many of the MSMEs negatively while few were able to take advantage of the lockdown to diversify their business activities. It was therefore recommended that, prolonging the lockdown would further worsen the situation of these MSMEs, leading to further loss of investments and jobs. Thus, the Federal Government’s N50 billion Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) which was a stimulus package for households and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) should be judiciously disbursed to save the economy from further sliding into crisis and/or possible recession.