world
How is the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the logistics in Tanzania?
The world is at a major standstill because of the present Covid-19 pandemic. The economic market has an adverse impact by leaps and bounds because of the lockdowns and quarantines.
Hence, the government all over the world is implementing different types of fiscal measures so that the effects of the virus on the economy can be curbed down, further providing tremendous reliefs for not only households but also businesses.
With regards to the Eastern African countries, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects that there has been a slowdown in the growth of Tanzania because of the pandemic.
The transport experts have also warned that because of the cancellation of ships that were supposed to dock at the Mombasa port because of the coronavirus, it is supposed to reverberate at the entire East African areas. These further impact negatively on the developing countries vehemently.
The Shippers Council of Eastern Africa (SCEA) opines that there will be an increase in time during the vessel docking at the port since the authorities will screen all members’ temperature for the virus where they will also inspect the vessels which are entering the ports.
The executive director of SCEA and the other authorities are still arguing about the china-originated virus that is impacting the small-scale importers since they are being denied a visa to travel to China for business-related purposes with Uganda. Moreover, the logistic hurdles, poor infrastructure, and high prices have resulted in major challenges in Africa’s food supply.
Tanzania’s farming and agriculture sector is facing tremendous pain with regard to the total supply chain. A lot of people’s livelihood has been affected heavily because of the pandemic in Tanzania. The government officials are worried because poverty is getting worse where the officials are also facing a lot of problems in the formal economy. When it comes to raking in foreign exchange, the tourism industry is an important sector. The government assumes that this year, only approximately 440,000 foreigners will visit Tanzania for the holiday season. These numbers do not even fill up the quarter of the last year’s numbers. Since African airlines have a stronger link to China not only for tourism but also trade, there are heavily exposed to the current situation.
Supply chains might face short term changes, but there is also a likelihood that the present situation will result in a long-term structural shift.
