ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND LOCKDOWN POLICY ON FEMALE OWNED BUSINESSES IN AKURE, ONDO STATE, NIGERIA, WEST AFRICA

Abstract

This study seeks to investigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on female owned Businesses in Akure, Ondo State. The study adopted a survey research design with the aid of a structured online survey questionnaire. The population for this study is the selected female owned businesses registered with Small Medium Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. With total a population of over five thousand   (5600) female owned businesses that have being existence for the past five years. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 2800 respondents. The collected data was analyzed using regression analysis. The findings revealed that the mass layoffs and closures of businesses had occurred few weeks into the crisis. Second, the risk of closure was negatively associated with the expected length of the crisis. Third, many small businesses are financially fragile. The median businesses with more than N100,000 in monthly expenses had only about two weeks of cash at hand at the time of the survey. Moreover, businesses had widely varying beliefs about the likely duration of COVID-19 related disruptions. Fourth, majority of businesses planned to seek funding through the Central Bank of Nigeria Corona virus Aid, Relief (CBN-CAR) palliative. However, many anticipated problems with accessing the programme, such as bureaucratic hassles and difficulties establishing eligibility of applicants. In conclusion, lockdown policy by the government drastically reduced the sales turnover of the female owned businesses surveyed as a result of the weak purchasing power of their customers, the result also showed that the lowering of the buying behavior affected the demand and the supply of goods and services offered by the female owned businesses and thus affect their performance generally.The study, therefore recommends that government should review the lockdown policy while not contravening the professional health guidelines and policies for curtailing the COVID- 19 in Nigeria within a very possible short time to enable the country to return to normalcy to facilitate effective economic growth and development through Small and Medium Scale Enterprise. To the best of the knowledge of the authors this is the first COVID-19 research examining its effects on female owned businesses registered with SMEDAN in Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria.