Survey of Economic Effect of Covid 19 Pandemic on Performance of SMEs in South East Nigeria

This study is a survey of economic effect of COVID 19 pandemic on performance of SMES in South East Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study are to access the effect of lockdown, movement restrictions, market closure and social distancing on performance of SMES in South East States during COVID-19 era. The outbreak of coronavirus also known as COVID-19 towards the end of year 2019 disrupted the Nigerian economy. The evolution of the disease and its economic impact is highly uncertain, which makes it difficult for policymakers to formulate an appropriate macroeconomic policy response. In order to better understand possible economic outcomes, this paper explored the impact of the disease outbreak on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises performances in South East of Nigeria. Small and Medium Scale Enterprises have undeniably played significant roles in the economic development of many countries globally. This role performed by the SMEs has been disrupted by the global coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic brought about lockdown in economic activities (movement restrictions, market closure and social distancing). Thus, these restrictions and controls of the movement have particularly affected small and medium enterprises in Nigeria. The study adopted a survey research design. Data were obtained through a questionnaire administered to 278 SMEs in Nigeria. The data were analyzed using descriptive and regression analysis using SPSS. The findings of the study indicated that owners/managers of SMEs who participated in the study rated the variables of COVID-19 (lockdown, movement restriction, market closure, and social distancing) on a high level which implies that they adversely affected SME's performance. Therefore, the study recommends that proactive plans should be put in place for SMEs in anticipation of events such as COVID-19 that can hurt businesses