The coronavirus, which has ravaged our world for the past year and half has recently begun to be felt its negative effects in East Africa very seriously. A total of 6 million people were infected across the entire African continent and thousands of lives were lost. With the effect of the third wave that has occurred in recent months, serious restrictions/lockdown have been brought in Rwanda and Uganda, which are the leading countries of East Africa. Restrictions/lockdown mean that both the economy of the country, its production and trade are affected very negatively. In todays article, we will examine this subject in more detail with examples. While many African countries are already having difficulties in economic terms, they are also getting into a deadlock with these restrictions. Both commercial enterprises and manufacturers are adversely affected by this situation. Lets go through a concrete example; You are a construction materials wholesaler in Kigali. There are curfews and work stoppages due to the Covid restrictions that was imposed in the country. Put yourself in the shoes of the owner of this business and think; Who buys materials for construction from me in such a period? Who will continue his/her construction activities? Or imagine yourself as the owner of a cafe in Gisenyi. Restrictions came and all eating places were closed. There are people who work with you, you have shop rent and expenses. During these restrictions, there are many tradesmen and business owners who have experienced this situation. Unfortunately, there are millions of examples of these cases all over the world and many of them resulted in job losses. During these periods, peoples spending habits psychology have also changed. It is necessary to examine the money spending habits of the society before and after Covid. While there was a large mass of people who spent their earnings as if there was no tomorrow before the pandemic, today there is a society that is more conscious, has learned from the incidents, and has a more developed financial foresight. I am sure that the ongoing Covid restrictions in Rwanda are pushing the public to a serious financial awareness. To give an example from myself, I have changed my shopping habits, especially with the effect of the pandemic,I do not shop for products that I do not need, as was the case before the pandemic; I am trying to be more prudent in my spending. As many financial management experts ecommend, you should save at least half of your monthly income. In this way, I can assure you that you will step into the future more confidently. Of course, on the other hand, the picture is unfortunately not very encouraging for commercial enterprises that have been in a difficult situation in the world. Both the restrictions and the changes in the spending habits of the people are one of the most important indicators that the picture will not be the same as before. As a result of the restrictions, unfortunately, many people lose their jobs and their families are in a difficult situation. This is a wound that spreads to all wings of society. It is even more critical for business owners, because most of them import goods from abroad and they are affected very negatively by the financial bottleneck that occurs during the restrictions. Even the bakeries, which we will consider the most basic today, reduce their bread production capacity. Accordingly, the supply of the material required for bread production is purchased from the wholesaler is less. The number of workers in one shift is decreasing, and in this way, the number of bread sold at the end of the day also going down considerably. This situation creates a great decrement both for the boss, for the supplier who sells bread raw materials, for the worker and for the state. As the trade decreases, the tax rate that the government will collect from these transactions automatically tends to decrease. At the end of the day, we can clearly see that these restrictions cause serious job losses for everyone. Thats why my most important advice to the valuable people of Rwanda is to practice the use of masks regularly and pay attention to social distance. No virus is stronger than human will. If the recommended measures are implemented, the financial stalemate created by the restrictions will soon turn positive, and brighter commercial charts will be on the horizon.
