Sundaymail Editor
Editor’s Brief
Victoria Ruzvidzo
The Government recently announced new lockdown restrictions, reverting to level four, necessitated by the rising cases of infections and deaths as a result of the coronavirus.
In force for almost a week now, the lockdown has brought mixed feelings pertaining to its merits and de-merits, but we all agree that Zimbabwe, as with other countries worldwide, needs to do its best to minimise and eventually eliminate the effects of this pandemic that has gripped the world since late 2019.
The disease has wreaked havoc and dismantled the strongest of fortresses, leaving millions latching onto dear life. That it has killed millions of people globally reflects its merciless decimation of populations, and it appears not done just yet.
It is in this regard that we commend the Government for its timely intervention to increase the lockdown to level four. This entails shorter working hours (8 am to 3.30pm in this instance), fewer people in offices and factories and stricter intra and intercity movements, among other restrictions. The Government has had to come up with a balancing act, difficult as it is, to ensure the economy continues to tick while people are safe, mingling only when they should and for a few hours.
Schools have also been closed while other colleges and universities have begun to heed the call.
This is certainly not the place we would want to be. Business is murmuring that the lockdown is affecting production and threatens to undo the gains that have been made in the economy. This argument is quite understandable. A few production hours have been knocked off and employees are failing to come to work on time in many cases due to transport challenges. However, saving lives is the main priority under the circumstances. We would rather production figures go down while more lives are saved. Everything will surely fall into place once the coast is clear.
We cannot assign dollar value to life. It is more precious and its loss quite devastating. The new measures are indeed necessary to tame the escalating casualties and fatalities.
In such circumstances where industry finds itself caught between a rock and a hard place, firms need to summon their creative and innovative minds to make the most of what they have.
More efficient and smarter methods of doing business should be adopted so that the hours businesses are open count more than the actual seconds and minutes contained therein.
The Covid-19 pandemic has posed a massive twin threat to lives and livelihoods and there is need for a re-think on how businesses are run to ensure survival and growth during these trying times.
The business world feels the new restrictions should not exceed three weeks. While this is a very predictable and understandable response, that the restrictions only last for three weeks is largely dependent on a reduction in new infections and deaths.
For that to happen business has a major part to play in ensuring employees and clients alike adhere strictly to the laid down measures such as social distancing, correct and consistent wearing of mask and sanitising.
In fact, it is incumbent upon every Zimbabwean to ensure they stay safe and that their neighbour is safe too. There should be no compromise on that.
That thousands of soccer fans in Europe are attending the Euro Cup matches without wearing face masks and not observing social distancing is a subject for another day.
It is critical to be reminded that in the workplace, for those operating onsite, the days of arriving for work late and sleeping on the job should and must be a thing of the past as now more than ever, every second counts and should be dedicated to maximum, efficient and results-oriented use. Anything short of that can and will result in catastrophic consequences for business and the economy at large.
Part of the great reset, as companies and countries wait for and envision a post pandemic future, is rethinking how technology can best serve our needs. Adoption of new technologies can ensure that some production processes are done even offsite depending on the nature of business.
Many businesses worldwide are making strong cases of why open data ecosystems for finance and business is the next frontier and have been examining the technology re-think, critical in many aspects of the economy.
Robust digital infrastructure has proved to be of paramount importance during the Covid-19 era and more research and investment needs to be made to this end.
Research has shown that economies that embrace data usage and data sharing could witness an exponential growth in GDP projected to be between 1-6 percent on average by 2030, with gains flowing to consumers and industry at large.
The retailer who will have the edge now and in the future will harness the power of data, artificial intelligence and augmented reality.
The new normal demands that we think of new ways of conducting business and cannot remain stuck with archaic and redundant business models.
Arguably, the single biggest mistake that retailers and most businesses make is an uncanny unwillingness to invest in something that doesn’t instantly feed the bottom line.
But the fact of the matter is that current and future success will depend on research, raising more capital, cultivating an entrepreneurial environment and building global networks.
Admittedly, a lot has to be done in an environment that is increasingly straining ease of doing business.
But the number one characteristic of human beings is the ability to adapt to change. This strength is needed now more than ever before.
That the economy performed well in the first six months of the year, with inflation going down to the current 161 percent as of May, while the stability induced by the foreign currency auction rate was largely maintained, are encouraging signs of economic recovery and growth even under the present circumstances.
We need to do more to consolidate these gains and drive towards a future of increased economic prosperity.
We would want to believe that experiences of 2020, characterised largely by harsher lockdowns, can help firms make more informed and hence more effective decisions under the circumstances.
The importance of all this is that business needs to adjust and make do with what is available.
This demands thinking not outside the box, but far away from the box. Universities are coming up with innovative production systems which need to be adopted to survive the harsh realities of operating under lockdowns.
The new normal is the catchphrase everywhere, not that we have any doubt that the Lord Almighty will deliver us from the disease and its effects, but that we have to adapt to the changing environment so that Covid-19 does not subdue us, but that we must, at the end of the day, emerge victorious.
As alluded to above, the new normal certainly has demands of its own: introduction of efficient and proficient production systems, maximising on every opportunity making sure every minute counts.
As an economy we cannot afford to drop the ball. We have come a long way to get to where we are and not even Covid-19 should be allowed to stand in the way to greatness.
Although at the beginning of the pandemic it was all doom and gloom worldwide for business, the picture is now changing especially for countries and economies that have and are adapting to the new ways of living and conducting business.
In our Business section we carry a story that says industry is upbeat that production capacity will rise significantly in the second quarter of the year to at least 56 percent, from 47 percent in the first quarter.
This is premised on the fact that current stability will be sustained while inflation will continue on a downward trend till year-end. The 85 firms that participated in the survey by the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries were upbeat that Q2 would be better than Q1.
This was obviously before the level Four lockdown, but we hope that the positive sentiment will continue to flow even in face of the current lockdown and its attendant challenges.
Zimbabwe remains hopeful that it will achieve a 7,4 percent economic growth.
This is still within reach, but will certainly demand rolling up sleeves as men and women get down to serious business.
We can and will come out of this much stronger and innovations made during the pandemic will most likely be enjoyed long after the pandemic era has passed, an era we all anxiously await to see the back of.
In God I Trust!
Twitter handle: @VictoriaRuzvid2; Email: [email protected]; [email protected]; WhatsApp number: 0772 129 992.
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