Sundaymail Editor
Enacy Mapakame
Business Reporter
The fallout from the coronavirus has halved income for women in the informal sector, a recent study has shown.
Women around the world have been disproportionately impacted by the health crisis through exposing their families and losing business.
A study by the Graca Machel Trust (GMT)`s Women’s Economic and Social Advancement (WESA) reveals upcoming women entrepreneurs have been hardest hit by the pandemic, although governments across the region had programmes and packages to cushion them.
The Graca Machel Trust (GMT) advocates for gender inclusiveness in the relief and recovery responses from the Covid-19 pandemic in Africa.
It duly carried out a study titled “An analysis of the Covid-19 Response and Recovery Strategies in Select Countries in Africa Through a Gender Lens”, which was co-authored by Moira Ngaru and Cathrine Dzingire.
“Women in informal businesses have lost more than 50 percent of their income as social distancing guidelines drastically reduced the number of people visiting their markets,” said Mrs Ngaru while presenting during the GMT National Association of Business Women Zimbabwe (NABWZ) thematic dialogue held in the capital last week.
“When crises strike, women and girls are hardest hit by economic impacts. Women generally earn less and save less, and are less able to absorb the economic shocks than men.
“Women are losing their livelihoods faster than men and have fewer alternatives to generate income. Crises also increase unpaid care work; school closures and social distancing measures have increased the unpaid care and domestic load of women at home,” she said.
Teenage pregnancies and child marriages also increased as schools closed during lockdowns.
Of the women entrepreneurs drawn from various associations of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) who participated in the study, 37,5 percent cited restricted mobility as their biggest challenge, as supply chains were disrupted.
Small businesses lost their customer base as a result.
As movement restrictions intensified, businesses quickly adopted digital platforms, but 12,5 percent of women entrepreneurs cited lack of knowledge and access to digital technology as one of the major setbacks.
Those with capacity and knowledge managed to set up websites, applications and online marketing chains.
While Government launched some stimulus packages and programmes to boost the economy, lack of access to information affected women entrepreneurs.
Mrs Ngaru said:
“Women should constitute 50 percent of the response committees at district, provincial and national levels. Governments must disseminate clear information on the distribution mechanism of all business-related stimulus packages and suggest a need for free and confidential business development services for SMEs.”
Economic empowerment measures targeting women and MSME (micro, small and medium entrprises), she added, should be put in place to address and mitigate loss of income and livelihoods for millions of women.
Further discussions revealed that there is still limited networking among women in business, which is hindering their access to information on various programmes aimed at empowering them.
GMT’s Mr Absolom Masendeke highlighted the need to link women to enable them to share ideas, markets and challenges.
” . . . Access to markets are some of the bottlenecks that women entrepreneurs face, although others have made it and are already on international markets,” he said.
The Graca Machel Trust’s WESA works to drive women’s economic and social transformation in Africa through network building, leadership development and advocacy.
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