Emmerson Njanjamangezi, Group Features Editor 
BUSINESS has implored the authorities to balance economic activities and safeguarding lives as they implement measures to curb the spread of the lethal coronavirus in the country.
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce CEO, Chris Mugaga
In particular, it urged the government to ramp up the vaccination programme and put in place regulations that allow uninterrupted business activities for industry and commerce.
This comes after the government announced revised strict Covid-19 lockdown restrictions last weekend following increased complacency among citizens.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) chief executive, Sekai Kuvarika, was among the business leaders who told The Financial Gazette that both the government and the private sector had not been proactive in planning ahead.
“We have had Covid-19 for almost one-and-a-half years. We have been observing the deadly respiratory disease in the rest of the world. We have seen it ravaging India.
“By now we should have plans in place on what to do in worst case scenarios and in light case scenarios. For me, it feels like we have no viable plan apart from lockdowns.
“We have not been diligent in our planning, both the government and us the private sector. This is because we are all aware that to sustain our growth trajectory we have to avoid further lockdowns,” Kuvarika told The Financial Gazette.
“We have to amplify our preventative messaging and ramp up our vaccination strategy. Let’s come up with initiatives to encourage our people to take the vaccines. Because for now, our numbers are still very low with regards to meeting the herd immunity target of 60 percent,” she added.
On his part, Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) chief executive, Chris Mugaga, said the revised lockdown measures had hit businesses hard as they had been made without “consultations.
“We are the hardest hit by the latest measures announced by the government. Again, there was no consultation and we wonder at what point the authorities will see the need to consult us over issues that concern us.
“The new lockdown was done nicodemously. Government has banned gatherings altogether except funerals. But they have not done anything to restrict movement of people, which is even more dangerous than a small gathering of 50-plus people,” Mugaga told The Financial Gazette.
“As business we feel this is unfair to us and we are not comfortable with that. We have to speed up our vaccination programme.
“At the moment, the biggest business is conferencing and we are hit hard. We hope this will just be a small episode because if it is extended beyond two weeks, it will hugely disrupt business.
“Should Covid-19 cases continue to rise, it would be better for the government to speed up vaccination than to clamp down on operations.
“Most of our members were beginning to recover from Covid-19 and it’s too early to take another setback. We hope authorities see this from our point of view and reconsider,” Mugaga said.
Among the measures that the authorities announced are cuts in business trading hours and 50 percent reduction of staff complements for all businesses considered “non essential”.
Employers said these measures would have serious repercussions on productivity as most companies would be forced to scale down on operations.
President of the Employers’ Confederation of Zimbabwe (Emcoz), Israel Murefu, told The Financial Gazette that the revised measures would scuttle production.
“The latest intervention by the authorities is reminiscent of the scars and bruises we have had to endure as business. The current threat of a third wave, notwithstanding the vaccination strategy deployed by the authorities, remains scary and disruptive in a big way.
“Where business is operating with a lower staff complement than what is desirable, the effect on production is negative in that targets and deadlines will not be met and deliveries to clients and customers will suffer, resulting in low business volumes and lower sales. While the classification of essential and non-essential services is a legal technicality, in reality there is no such thing as non-essential service,” Murefu bemoaned.
“If there were really non-essential businesses then there would be no need for them to exist.
“Businesses thrive on linkages, synergies, collaboration and partnerships and therefore most businesses have a symbiotic relationship with their suppliers and markets and once there is a disruption or instability in the value chain, they feel the pinch financially and otherwise.
“Any disruption in the smooth flow of these services and products is detrimental to business in general and some may be hit harder than others. Ultimately, any form of full or partial lockdown is harmful to business and workers in one way or the other,” Murefu further told The Financial Gazette.
With regards to the vaccination plan by government and private sector via the Business Preparedness Prevention and Response Initiative (BPPRI), Murefu said there was a need to ramp up the programme.
“We need more agility and urgency in the vaccination response because while we are doing better than most African countries, effectively only about three percent of the population has received at least the first dose of the vaccine.
“This is far from achieving the desired 60 percent which the medical people advise gives the country herd immunity. The BPPRI needs to be given more impetus and support by all stakeholders so that we minimise the risk that comes with the pandemic and reduce the chances of a total lockdown, which is disruptive to business and livelihoods.”
The revised coronavirus measures came as BPPRI — a conglomeration of business organisations — had said it intended to raise its investments in Covid-19 preventive measures.
BPPRI chairperson Getrude Mashonganyika told The Financial Gazette last month that business wanted to avoid challenges that were experienced when Zimbabwe went through the first and second waves of Covid-19.
“The government has identified some points which we need to attend to, especially at the Beitbridge Border Post. When we had the second wave, most of the infections came via the South African variant. So, we want a proactive solution. We don’t want to be reactive like the last time.
BPPRI brings together the ZNCC, CZI, CoMZ, Emcoz, the Zimbabwe Business Council for Tourism, the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe, the Horticulture Development Council, and the Insurance Council of Zimbabwe.
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