During the occasion of the National Prayer Breakfast, the Head of State challenged leaders to double their efforts in delivery so that the country can recover from the slump caused by the coronavirus outbreak. According to the President, a lot has been lost in the past one year as the country instituted measures to curtail the devastation from the virus that has ravaged global order. While the worst of the devastation may have been avoided owing to the robust measures that were rolled out in the early stages of the pandemic, the economy has greatly been affected. The national economy contracted considerably, many people lost their jobs, while businesses have closed. Available statistics show that up to 7,401 jobs have been lost in agro-processing, 13,000 in mining, and 2,644 in energy among many sectors. Industries like hospitality are still limping, while others have begun to take off. However, the worst consequences of pandemic – big human loss - has potentially been avoided, while the vaccines which are already being distributed allows the country to look forward to a future without Covid-19 and to rebuilding the economy. Already in Rwanda, nearly 350,000 people from the most exposed groups – frontline workers, people working in security, those with underlying conditions, and people of advanced age among others – have received their first shots and the second ones are on their way. Through different channels, government is looking to continue procuring vaccines and the target is to inoculate 30 per cent of the population at the end of 2021 and double that by June 2022. With such effort to keep the virus at bay, the remaining wall to scale is reviving the economy from the devastation it has been plunged in. Already, multiple interventions have been deployed, like the Economic Recovery Fund in which the government looks at sinking Rwf350 billion to help accelerate the recovery of businesses most affected by Covid-19. Just recently, another intervention was launched – the Manufacture and Build to Recover Programme – which seeks to extend tax breaks and tax credits to businesses with an aim to reduce cost of investment for new manufacturers as well as those seeking to expand existing operations. All these interventions seeks to buttress Rwandans against the shocks of Covid-19 but it will require hard work from everyone – both in public and private sector – to ensure these interventions yield the desired results and eventually put back our economy on good footing.
