WINKER

Even before COVID-19, Ruth Wanjiru and her two children knew the sound of pangs of hunger because her job as a laundry woman did not provide enough to ensure that there was enough food in the house. Now, experts fear that the partial lockdown in Kenya that restricted movement from 7pm will damn her and other poor people to starvation. The opportunity has opened for innovation in social entrepreneurship such as Voucher for Food which ensures that people make money as they solve societal problems. The Voucher for Food pays local shopkeepers in Mathari slum where local people can go pick their daily supplies. The government imposed a dawn to dusk curfew as well closure of produce markets as a means to slow down the spread of the virus but this disrupted food supply and has already threatened fragile food security situation in Kenya. This is because many people do not have work now and cannot afford food. Ms Wanjiru is a single mother who made a living from washing clothes to t...

Manufacturers have cited reducing costs and maintaining jobs as top priorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is according to findings of a KAM, KPMG report on the impact of Covid-19 on manufacturers in Kenya. Despite fears of the impact of the pandemic on local industry, 81% of manufacturers say they are not likely to close down as a result of the impact of COVID-19. However, this number reduces to 76% for manufacturing SMEs. From the survey, 78% of manufacturers’ top priority is reducing costs, 61% are keen on job retention with 53% giving precedence to improving cash flows. On employment, 40% of surveyed manufacturers have reduced their casual employees whereas 17% have reduced the permanent workforce. On the other hand, 91% of non-essential manufacturers have seen a significant decrease in demand for their products compared to 74% of essential goods manufacturers. 42% of manufacturers are operating at less than half of their operating capacity, whereas 37% of SMEs hav...

The need for information has never been more important today with the outbreak of an epidemic of global magnitude. Despite the media being at the forefront in the fight against the Covid-19 virus, it has not been spared either. From the time the first case was reported in the City of Wuhan in China towards the end of 2019, the virus has wreaked havoc across the world leading to massive financial losses. Countries have come up with a raft of measures including lockdowns to contain the highly contagious virus. Recent survey by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance on Business Perspectives on the Impact of Covid-19 on Kenya’s economy paint a gloomy picture. As reporters work diligently to give the world daily updates, they are equally mulling over the effects of the pandemic on their organizations which are dependent on advertisements. Social distancing and stay at home aspects have seen increased demand for alternative news sources with digital media filling the gap. Th...