Africa-Press – Tanzania. As the world is still healing from the infliction of Covid19, there has been several significant and dynamic measures countries worldwide pursue to bestow communities with safety and sustainability.
The former and latter course has been in the form of economic incentives through subsidies, health aid and other emergency funds to revive businesses save communities from withering and companies from falling.
In Tanzania, for instance, the economy grew by 4.8 per cent last year, against a projection of 5.6 per cent due to the pandemic.
And, in the efforts to support the government to opening up the economy, Serengeti Breweries Limited (SBL), through its Serengeti Trade Mark, has provided a stimulus package worth over 2.3bn/-for the next two years to 2,000 bars.
The project, dubbed “Raise the Bar” or “Tunyanyuke Pamoja”, aims to help bars, staff and customers against the Covid-19 pandemic in Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Mwanza and the isles of Zanzibar.
During the project launch held in Dar es Salaam last week, SBL Managing Director Mark Ocitti said that the strategy supports the government’s efforts to call on people and businesses to practice better hygiene standards to prevent all communicable diseases.
On his part, the SBL Corporate Relations Director, John Wanyancha, mentioned that bars have a free opportunity to benefit from the package by registering online through the Diageo bar academy website.
SBL emphasized that bar owners or managers fill in all the legitimate information that will help them qualify for the support, such as; legally registered as a business entity and operating for 12 months minimum (before Covid19 restrictions).
Other crucial legal requirements are business license, TIN certificate, liquor license and registration certificate (for company) and business name registration (for sole proprietor or partnership).
Furthermore, applicants must demonstrate at least one way in which they are or plan to “Raise the Bar” in their community. SBL recommends that on-trade outlets choose from promoting inclusion & diversity, including supporting females, promoting positive drinking and tackling harm or anti-social behaviour (linking to Diageo programmes and education to prevent underage drinking and binge drinking) and other areas.
Through the ‘Raise the Bar’ program, on-trade bars will acquire valuable equipment to transform their service areas for adequate social distancing, hygienic measures and digital support.
Mr Ocitti, said “Our bars and eateries constitute a critical part of our hospitality and service industry with their universe employing over thousands of people and benefitting many more indirectly. We have launched the “Raise the Bar” project bearing in mind that most outlets have recorded business slowdown resulting from this health crisis”.
The programme considers supporting bars and outlets to strictly ensure that they first meet the basic Covid-19 safety regulations, as outlined in the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health.
Raise the Bar was designed explicitly after a global survey of bar owners to identify what they need to reopen after lockdown. Their top priorities included hygiene measures, digital support and valuable equipment to transform how their outlets will work.
Registration of bar outlets has begun in Dar Es Salaam, and the site actively receives new registrations. After the registration, thorough training of qualified bars will follow and supply necessary equipment per their applications.
The project is expected to play an essential role in bringing people together to socialize better and sustain millions of jobs in the process. And in the next few days, SBL looks forward to activating the programme in the regions of Arusha and Mwanza, in which on-trade bars will be able to register and benefit from the programme.
