Effect of Covid-19 Pandemic on Small and Medium Enterprises Performance and Survival Strategies in Nigeria: a Conceptual Review

Abstract

The paper investigates the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on small and medium enterprises performance and survival strategies with specific objectives to examine SMEs performance and SMEs survival strategies in Nigeria during COVID-19 pandemic. SMEs have been considered as one of the engines of economic growth, sustainability and industrial development of a nation, however, the survival rate of SMEs in Nigeria has been seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of survival strategies has been one of the major challenges facing SMEs since most SMEs believe that survival strategies are only meant for large and multinational companies. The paper relies mostly on secondary documentation, where scholarly articles on the subject matter were reviewed in line with the objective of the study. The review revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has had an influence on the performance and survival of SMEs in Nigeria which resulted in reduction in revenue, reduced staff salaries as well as SMEs inability to repay loans, rents and government is not doing enough to contain the spread of the pandemic. Based on the findings, the authors recommended that the government should lower interest rates, relax loans, tax repayment or waiver of taxes in order to enhance the survival and performance of SMEs. Furthermore, the government should set aside emergency fund targeting SMEs in the country.