| dc.description.abstract | This study was hinged upon analysing how Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)
are affected in Zimbabwe by COVID-19 and to provide recommendations for mitigating the
impact. The research objectives were fourfold; to determine the potential economic and
financial impact of COVID-19 on SMEs in Zimbabwe; to determine the impact of COVID-19
on supply chains of SMEs; to establish factors which make SMEs highly vulnerable to the
impact of COVID-19, and to suggest models that can be employed to manage the financial
impact of COVID-19 on SMEs in Zimbabwe. The research proposed that COVID-19 and
government response measures have had a negative impact on SME performance for the
majority of SMEs. A pragmatism research philosophy was adopted. A mixed methods
(abductive) approach was adopted. An explanatory research design with a mixture of
qualitative and quantitative methods was adopted. A survey research strategy was adopted. The
population of the study were 200 000 Harare SMEs owners/managers/accountants/supervisors.
A sample of 383 was taken using the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) formula, with 360 being for
questionnaires and 23 being for interview guide. Quota sampling and random sampling
techniques were adopted. The response rate was 83.03%. SPSS was used for quantitative data
analysis and Excel was used for presentation. The study concluded that for the majority of
SMEs, Covid-19 has resulted in reduction of sales volumes, reduction of profit figures, increase
in cost of doing business, shortage of working capital, difficulties in accessing liquidity and
financial credit and has resulted in SMEs facing difficulties in meeting fixed and statutory
financial obligations like wages, loan repayments and rent. The study also concluded that for
the majority of SMEs in Zimbabwe, Covid-19 has resulted in a significant reduction in the
demand of SMEs’ non-essential products, significant increase in demand of essential products,
significant disruptions in supply of materials and products and significant disruptions in supply
of imported materials and products. The study further concluded small size of stocks, non-
essentiality of products, high labour intensiveness and being on congested locations make
SMEs more vulnerable to the effects of Covid-19. The study recommended that SMEs be
flexible enough to be able to switch to the production of Covid-19 related essentials like face
masks and sanitizers. Also, the SMEs were recommended to adopt the work-from-home
strategy during lockdowns. The government was recommended to assist SMEs financially
especially after lockdowns to allow them restock. Future researchers were recommended to use
other methodologies like correlation, regression and ANOVA analysis, and to draw sample
from other places in Zimbabwe apart from Harare, such as the rural areas | en_ZW |
