IMPACT OF DEFICIENT ELECTRICITY SUPPLY TO SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES IN KANO-NIGERIA

Abstract

Electricity supply in Nigeria is often erratic. Consumers of electricity (residential, commercial and industrial consumers) suffer untold hardships as the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) has been unable to supply reliable power. This is despite massive injections of funds by the federal government into the power sector over recent years. The failure has significantly impacted negatively on the operations of the business sector especially the small and medium scale enterprises that operates with little capital and are thus in most cases unable to afford a back-up facility to ensure un-interrupted power supply for their operations. The study therefore examined the impact of deficit electricity supply to small and medium scale enterprises in Kano-Nigeria. Population of the study is 1286 which is the number of registered small and medium scale enterprises in Kano, a sample size of 50 respondents was selected through the use of stratified random sampling to ensure effective representation of the population of small and medium scale enterprises in Kano-Nigeria. Results from data analysis indicates the severity of electricity supply outages and the costs imposed by power supply outages on the operation of small and medium scale enterprises. The paper therefore recommends the need for policy attention towards revitalizing the electricity sector of Nigeria for enhanced supply of electricity to the national economy. When this is achieved, the small and medium scale enterprises will be in a position to effectively lead in the drive towards industrializing the Nigerian economy