STUDY OF ITS IMPACT ON COMMERCE AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

The outbreak of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China in 2019 was phenomenal. It significantly altered the patterns of political and economic behaviour across the globe. COVID-19 engineered the rise of new rhetoric and narratives in academic discourse. This includes the concept of covidnomics that espouses the intricate between COVID-19 and economics in general. As the impact of coronavirus on humanity begins to unfold gradually, its impact on the economy of nations in Africa is glaring. Among the many unprecedented economic challenges it engendered, the dramatic fall in the demand for goods and services in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa stands tall. The result is that some manufacturers in the continent have been overwhelmed by the imbalance between demand and supply.1 The fall in demand under the pandemic had nothing to do with a lack of want on the part of the people but, it was a manifestation of the decline of human development index that had impeded consumers’ capacity to make demands of goods and services. In Nigeria and around the world, borders are being 8 closed and societies are having to change the way they live.2 As entire countries come under quarantine orders and consumers around the world try to reduce human contact, manufacturers need to recognize that their response to the novel COVID-19 Pandemic will have a significant impact on their business. Those that respond by rising up to the occasion would seek innovative ways of dealing with the situation, while those who react may struggle with adapting to the change they need to make to remain profitable and resilient in these times.3 Against this backdrop, this study seeks the impact of COVID-19 on commerce and human development in Nigeria.