AfricaPress-Tanzania: TANZANIA Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA), has called upon its members and nonmembers to submit challenges affecting business due to Covid-19 pandemic.
The move is geared to come up with a package of challenges that will later be addressed in collaboration with regulatory bodies and the government.
TCCIA President, Mr Paul Koyi told reporters in Dar es Salaam yesterday that businesspeople on every region and district should send their challenges to their business council offices available countrywide.
“It is high time now we evaluate challenges brought by the pandemic in our laws and policies that hinder businesspeople to operate smoothly as before,” he noted He added, “I encourage business people not to give up, we are all aware of impacts brought by the pandemic.
They must use this opportunity and send challenges encountered during this period,” Mr Koyi further said regulatory authorities needed to come up with ways to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on businesses just like the Bank of Tanzania (BOT) took monetary policy measures to offset the impact of coronavirus in the economy.
According to Mr Koyi on the study, they conducted in collaboration with East African Business Council (EABC), on the impact of Covid-19 on business and investment established 63 per cent drop in cash flow in the retail sector.
Other sectors and that experiences drop in cash flow include real estate 60 percent, finance 50 percent, construction 40 percent, event management and ICT 40 percent, manufacturing 36 per cent and consultancy 24 percent.
The data on the survey was collected using an online survey whereby questionnaires were sent out to EABC members and non-members from different sectors across the region.
According to the response from the respondents, the reduction of cash flows will continue disrupting value chains and may lead to the closure of businesses and investment projects.
It may also increase the rate of unemployment if EAC partner states do not come up with appropriate measures to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic.
Already, 55.9 percent of businesses surveyed in the study reported declines in sales while 55.9 percent also said they have seen increased cross border restrictions and challenges as 44.1 percent of the interviewed companies said they were facing a challenge in the sourcing of raw materials.
