AN ASSESSMENT OF COVID-19 AND ITS IMPACT IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT: This study was carried out to examine the impact of covid-19 in the manufacturing sector using Dangote Sugar Refinery as case study. To achieve this 2 research hypothesis were formulated. The study was carried out in Dangote Sugar Refinery, Lagos State. The survey design was adopted and the simple random sampling techniques were employed in this study. The population size comprise of the entire staff of of Dangote Sugar Refinery. In determining the sample size, the researcher randomly selected 67 respondents while 50 respondents were validated. Self-constructed and validated questionnaire was used for data collection. The collected and validated questionnaires were analyzed using frequency tables and percentage whiles the hypothesis were tested using Chi-square statistical tool. The result of the findings reveals that; manufacturing sector is relevant to the economy of Nigeria, Covid-19 had no positive effect on food and beverage companies, Covid-19 has highly affected manufacturing sector and Covid-19 has a significant effect of on food and beverage manufacturing companies. Based on the findings, the researcher recommended that there should be an Immediate implementation of sanitation measures and reconfigure workspaces for safety. For example, stagger shifts, increase distance between workers and ban visitors on factory floors, companies should evaluate automation solutions to reduce the number of workers on the factory floor I.e. automation of repetitive tasks, including assembly and predictive maintenance, transfer of new knowledge throughout the supply chain is ideal. Companies should update best practices as the situation evolves and assist suppliers in implementing them and companies should prepare for supply chain pivots that could require identifying alternative suppliers.