COVID-19 pandemic and informal women workers in peri-urban communities in Nigeria

Abstract

ABSTRACT COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown policy it engendered restricted the entrepreneurial freedom and skills promoted by the neoliberal market structure. It also undermined the strings of social networks and collective organisation which protect the individual informal workers, particularly women in the peri-urban areas. Using the qualitative dominant methods, this research probed into the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on informal women workers in peri-urban communities in Nigeria. The study argued that the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying lockdown devastated the informal economic activities of women in peri-urban areas due largely to lack of social protection programmes to support vulnerable populations. It also undermined Nigeria-Cameroon trade relation which is a major source of livelihood for most people, reduced the personal income of informal workers in the peri-urban areas and government revenue in Taraba State. The study concluded that providing financial capital, material palliatives and affordable social protection facilities to informal women workers in peri-urban communities is relevant for sustainable economic development in Nigeria.