INFRASTRUCTURE DEFICIT AND THE PERFORMANCE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISE IN THE POST COVID-19 NIGERIAN ECONOMY

Infrastructure is one of the most critical factors for economic development in the post-COVID -19 because it will interact with the economy through the production processes and this will greatly impact the production and performance of SMEs in terms of output, income, and employment. This paper examines the effect of infrastructure deficit on the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in Benue State. The study is aimed at identifying the state of infrastructure and the effect of infrastructure deficit on the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in Nigeria. Three stages random sampling technique was employedtoselect750 SME’s in Nigeria. The study employed descriptive statistics and the Cobb-Douglas Production Function to analyze data. The descriptive statistics resultsshowthat88.9 percent of the SMEs emphasized that the state of infrastructure is poor in Nigeria while 79.1 percent of SMEs opined that poor state of infrastructure increased their cost of operation in the post-COVID -19.The Cobb-Douglas Production Function result showed that infrastructure deficit hurts the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in Nigeria in the post-COVID -19.Thestudyconcludesthatinfrastructure has a multiplier effect on SMEs ’income. Deficiency infrastructure hampered the development of SME’s and this translates in to a fall in income, low revenue to the government as well as increase unemployment. The study recommended that governments should make policies that are infrastructure driven in other to encourage and allow entrepreneurs to gain more access to infrastructure to reduce cost and enhance SMEs' performance.