Several businesses in Kampala are experiencing disrupted supplies resulting from the continuing lockdown in selected Chinese cities as the Covid -19 Omicron variant disrupts lives in this country.
China has been progressively instituting lockdown in a number of its cities since the end of March to halt the spread of the surging covid-19 cases in the country.
Official information from the Chinese government indicates that China has cumulatively confirmed 207,081 Covid cases, registering 4,876 deaths, and 175,431 recoveries.
As a result of the government’s pursuit of its “zero Covid” policy, up to 45 cities along the 1,300 miles of highway between the capital, Beijing, and the southern province of Guangdong, are under lockdown and include vital hubs like Changchun, Jilin, Shenyang, Tianjin, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou.
This trend has had a ripple effect on business in many countries that trade with China- Uganda inclusive because these cities are a gateway to the sea, affecting transportation, they are also production hubs of several goods.
Stephen Kikkabi who deals in textile fabrics says that due to the lockdown in China, the delivery of his merchandise which he ordered at the beginning of the year has not been delivered and has disrupted his plans.
He is scared because he doesn’t know where this will lead to since even the past pandemic started in the same way.
Kikabi says this delay is making his business difficult because he lacks what to sell, hence no revenue yet the expenses are still the same.
“Customers will also be affected because the price of the few goods on the market will be increased due to the reduced supply” Kikabi adds.
Zaalika Mutumba, an electrical dealer says the Chinese lockdown especially in Shanghai, causes a shortage in the supply of electrical because most of them are sourced from there.
The lockdown has also affected the transportation of goods to the country because many Ugandan traders use a group system where a container is filled with different traders having merchandise in it and with the lockdown, different traders cannot source at the same time.
