THE EFFECT OF COVID- 19 ON FEMALE TRADERS

 

By Marilyn Bangura

On 31st March 2020 Sierra Leone recorded its first case of Corona Virus (COVID-19). The pandemic which hit Sierra Leone continues to cause illness, death, and widespread economic crises.

Various measures, including a ban on public gatherings, closure of places of worship, suspension of international flights, closure of borders, curfews and lockdowns were instituted by the Government of Sierra Leone to curtail the spread of the virus. The implementation of these measures created a lot of effect on the people of Sierra Leone especially traders.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a widespread loss of human life worldwide and presents an unprecedent challenge to public health, food systems and the world of work. The economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic is devastating It notes.

As part of the measures to quickly and effectively respond to the economic crises, NaCSA with support from the Government of Sierra Leone and world bank provided a relief fund to cushion the economic burden on the vulnerable.

Ramatu Kamara a trader in the central part of Freetown says, that since the outbreak of the Corona Virus sales have been challenging. She added that there has been a lot of increase in the prices of goods.

"Before the coming of the Corona Virus I use to sell up to one million leones a day but now it is very difficult for me to even sell 300,000 a day”, Said Ramatu.

She noted that at the moment it is very difficult for her to buy new business as she doesn't have enough money to do so.

She revealed that she was not fortunate to benefit from the support from NaCSA as those that conducted the verification did not reach her market stall.

“They conducted the verification and stopped halfway, promising to continue later but to date we have not seen them.” Said Ramatu.

Abibatu Bangura is also a trader, she said the covid-19 pandemic affected them a lot, particularly in the area of sales. She explained that since the outbreak of COVID-19, it has not been easy for her as it is very difficult to purchase the goods she sells as boarders were at some point in time closed. She added that sales before COVID-19 and sales now are incomparable.

She acknowledged that she was among the first set of registered people to benefit from the NaCSA Support.

"I was in dire need of money, I was so stress up, because there were no sales and my daughter’s college fees were due, so I was very happy to receive the money from NaCSA,” Abibatu Bangura said.

WHO reports that millions of enterprises face an existential threat. Nearly half of the global of the world’s 3.3 billion global workforce are at risk of losing their livelihoods. Informal economy workers are particularly vulnerable because the majority lack social protection and access to quality health care and have lost access to productive assets.

A survey conducted by the country’s Ministry of Finance in September 2020 to assess the impact of COVID-19 on businesses indicated that about 68% of business owners reported that their weekly income was lower than in a typical week in March of that year.

Overall, the data shows that businesses have been severely impacted by the initial phase of COVID-19 (March-July). As part of the measures to respond quickly and effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Sierra Leone prepared the Quick Action Economic Response Program (QAERP) to maintain microeconomic and financial stability as well as mitigate the impact of the disease on households and business.

Ebi Williams is a trader at Rawdon Street in Freetown, she stated that business has not been easy since the outbreak of the pandemic considering the fact that it is worldwide, and most of the goods she sells are from overseas. She added that since the goods are not available, it is difficult for them to accumulate money to buy the goods, with the slow sales.  She explained that before covid even though business was not running too fast, things were much better than they are now.

"Before corona I usually have sales amounting to between one million to two million. Now since morning after I have packed my business I haven’t been able to sell up to Le250,000. Looking at the time now, its past 3 :00 pm and at around 5:00 pm I will be closing business," Ebi noted looking frustrated

When asked about the support from NaCSA, she stated that she was not lucky to benefit from that money, but she heard that others have gotten theirs as she wasn’t even fortunate to register.  She said that those who did the registration went to their business location several times, but did not register her.

Kadiatu Kamara is the Chairlady for traders at Charlotte Street. She noted that businesses are going down gradually, adding that even before COVID-19 business was not flowing, although it was better by then. " Since I came this morning, I haven't sold anything,” Kadiatu said

She confirmed that some traders benefited from NaCSA's Support whilst some did not. She also stated that the ones that did not get anything are in the majority but she was fortunate to benefit from it.

Kadiatu also said that not everybody was registered, as they stopped at a particular point and moved on to other places.

She claimed that they promised to come back and complete the registration there but they did not come back as promised. She disclosed that even the ones that were verified, some of them are yet to receive their monies, noting that some of them are tired of fighting in the queue to get their money.

When asked whether she has engaged NaSCA on the concerns of other traders, the Chairlady said that NaSCA does not have a hand in the distribution of the money again, she said they gave them the slip and directed them to either the bank or the National Stadium where the money was being disbursed.

According to a press release from NaCSA, dated 17th November 2020, NaCSA receives funding from the government and the World Bank to provide relief to households greatly impacted by the negative effects of the corona virus, which pilot phase covers twenty-nine thousand (29,000) households with vulnerable informal sector workers including those working in micro and small enterprises and low paid workers in the service sector in the five regional districts headquarters cities of Freetown, Bo, Kenema, Makeni and Port loko.

In the second phase thirty-six thousand (36,000) households were supported to help them cope with the negative effect of Covid-19. The second phase also targeted households with vulnerable informal sector workers including those working in small medium enterprises and low paid workers in other informal sector in western area urban only.

This story was put together with the support from Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) and the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) human rights fellowship.