Determinants of SMEs Survival Amidst COVID- 19 Pandemic in Ilorin, Kwara State. Nigeria

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic which has ravaged the entire world has negatively affected Nigerian economy. As a result of the impacts of the pandemic, the survival of many Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) has been threatened. Thus, this study investigated the determinants of SMEs survival amidst COVID 19 pandemic. A total of 48 SMEs operators in Ilorin were randomly selected as sample of the study. Data were collected with the use of questionnaire. And Cronbach alpha was used to determine the internal consistency of the instrument which gave 0.74 coefficient. Descriptive statistics linear regression was used to analyze data. The study showed that 91.4% of SMEs surveyed were affected negatively by COVID 19 in the areas of sales, revenue and cash flow. However, despite the negative impacts, SMEs operators identified opportunities amidst the pandemic and were optimistic that their businesses would survive the pandemic especially with government intervention in the area of tax reduction, low or zero interest loan and other related policy. Program and policy to save the SMEs were recommended for government and other stakeholders.