As Zimbabwe approaches the end of its lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic, the business community is afraid that an extension would kill their chances of recovering.
President Emmerson Mnangangwa announced a 21-day lockdown on March 30 after the country recorded six cases of coronavirus, with one death. The cases have since risen.
However, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), the lobby for manufacturers, said an extension of the tough restrictions will bring the economy to its knees.
CZI said 82 per cent of local companies can only pay salaries for one month under the lockdown. A number of firms, especially in the tourism sector, have sent workers on forced leave while others are already retrenching, citing economic uncertainty.
CZI said that while the lockdown was necessary, the poor state of Zimbabwe’s economy and the government’s lack of capacity to bail out struggling companies must be taken into consideration when handling the crisis.
“In Europe they have allowed production to continue including that of non-essential goods except in Italy and Spain,” CZI said in an assessment of the lockdown released last week.
