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Assessment of the Impact of COVID-19 on Operations of Local Businesses and Level of Enforcement of Public Health Safety Measure within Business Premises: A Quantitative Study of Businesses in Huye-Rwanda

Author

Listed:
  • Evariste Twahirwa

    (African Center of Excellence in Internet of Things (ACEIoT), College of Science and Technology, University of Rwanda, Kigali P.O. Box 3900, Rwanda)

  • Kambombo Mtonga

    (African Center of Excellence in Internet of Things (ACEIoT), College of Science and Technology, University of Rwanda, Kigali P.O. Box 3900, Rwanda)

  • Kayalvizhi Jayavel

    (Department of Networking and Communications, School of Computing, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai 603203, India)

  • Willie Kasakula

    (African Center of Excellence in Internet of Things (ACEIoT), College of Science and Technology, University of Rwanda, Kigali P.O. Box 3900, Rwanda)

  • Peace Bamurigire

    (African Center of Excellence in Internet of Things (ACEIoT), College of Science and Technology, University of Rwanda, Kigali P.O. Box 3900, Rwanda)

Abstract

The impact of COVID-19 has been felt across all sectors, from transportation, education, and public works to the daily operations of businesses like selling, retailing, and so forth. The business sector is among those badly affected, especially micro, small, and medium enterprises. The understanding of ground prevailing conditions is key in driving informed policies that would have meaningful impact on society with regard to overcoming the effects of the virus. Hence, this work is an attempt to report the real ground statistics and necessity of technological support with the goal of submitting a report of recommended policies to the concerned authorities. In this direction, this work presents the outcome of a survey conducted to assess the impact of COVID-19 on operations of micro, small, and medium enterprises and also to find out the interventions put in place around business environments so as to enforce adherence to COVID-19 health safety measures. The survey was part of a study to develop automated IoT-powered technological solutions that would help to enforce proper mask wearing in indoor environments and also observance of social distance requirements within business premises. A customized questionnaire was designed to capture data on various aspects central to the focus of the study. The study was carried out in the month of May 2021, in the Huye district of Rwanda. According to the survey findings, the major challenges faced by businesses due to COVID-19 include failure by clients to settle bills, reduced ability to expand investment, difficulty in accessing inputs domestically, lower domestic sales to consumers, and lower domestic sales to businesses. The results also reveal some positive points that most businesses were found to have: hand washing points, hand sanitizer dispensers, and mechanisms to enforce social distance between customer and customer and also customer and front desk worker. In a nutshell, this work is unique in terms of (1) the customized questionnaire about Rwanda’s needs, (2) field visit-based data collection for accurate data, and (3) including an assessment of the importance of technological intervention for better handling of public safety, especially in the MSME business sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Evariste Twahirwa & Kambombo Mtonga & Kayalvizhi Jayavel & Willie Kasakula & Peace Bamurigire, 2021. "Assessment of the Impact of COVID-19 on Operations of Local Businesses and Level of Enforcement of Public Health Safety Measure within Business Premises: A Quantitative Study of Businesses in Huye-Rwa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-11, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:23:p:13013-:d:686896
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fairlie, Robert W., 2020. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Small Business Owners: The First Three Months after Social-Distancing Restrictions," IZA Discussion Papers 13707, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Robert Fairlie, 2020. "The impact of COVID‐19 on small business owners: Evidence from the first three months after widespread social‐distancing restrictions," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 727-740, October.
    3. Michael Batty, 2020. "The Coronavirus crisis: What will the post-pandemic city look like?," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 47(4), pages 547-552, June.
    4. Sara Padidar & Shell-may Liao & Siphesihle Magagula & Themb’a A M Mahlaba & Nhlanhla M Nhlabatsi & Stephanie Lukas, 2021. "Assessment of early COVID-19 compliance to and challenges with public health and social prevention measures in the Kingdom of Eswatini, using an online survey," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-28, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Weilun Huang & Hengbin Yin & Seongjin Choi & Mohsin Muhammad, 2022. "Micro- and Small-Sized Enterprises’ Sustainability-Oriented Innovation for COVID-19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-18, June.

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