Covid-19: Mozambican businesspeople call for cut in electricity tariff and more

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Covid-19: Mozambican businesspeople call for cut in electricity tariff and more

2:37 CAT | 05 May 2020

Maputo. [File photo: Macauhub]

The Association of Commerce, Industry and Services (ACIS) of Mozambique yesterday urged the government to cut the cost of energy by 50% to counter the impact of Covid-19 on the business sector.

“The interest of our members is not to earn profits, but to guarantee the continuity of operations and to ensure that people remain employed,” ACIS executive director Edson Chichongue told a press conference in Maputo.

ACIS is calling for the measure to remain in effect for at least three months, as a way of mitigating the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Mozambican companies.

According to data from the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA), the largest employer association in the country, the reduction in business activities in April due to the state of emergency resulting from the new coronavirus caused losses of 6.1 billion meticais (€82 million).

The CTA says at least 1,175 companies have suspended activities and more than 12,160 jobs, mainly in the hotel and restaurant sector, have been affected.

ACIS, which represents around 600 companies, seeks a set of “additional measures” to those that already adopted by the Mozambican government, in order to ensure that companies in the country do not go bankrupt in the face of the losses that have been recorded since the state of emergency was decreed.

“A large part of the restrictive measures that the government has implemented are making the situation of companies worse. There are negative impacts in this sector,” Chichongue declared.

In addition to electricity rates, ACIS asked the Mozambican state to reduce the level of imports and promote domestic products in order to support companies, “especially when [the respective] payments are made with money from the State Budget”.

“Mozambican companies are in an outcry, and if the country does not consume what we produce domestically, it will not help,” he added.

The suspension of the collection of market fees for vendor, and the simplification and flexibility of audits after customs clearance for companies importing Covid-19 prevention materials and ventilators are among the measures proposed by ACIS

Mozambique has so far recorded 80 cases of Covid-19.

Mozambique is under state of emergency regulations since April 1st, until the end of May, with entertainment facilities closed and all types of events and meetings banned. The entire population is recommended to stay at home unless they have work or other essential reasons for leaving.

Public transport carrying capacity has been limited, in stark contrast with the usual overcrowding, and face masks are mandatory on all public transport. Schools are closed and the issuing of entry visas suspended.

The declaration of a state of emergency foresees the adoption of sustainable fiscal and monetary policy measures “to support the private sector to face the economic impact of the pandemic”.

Globally, according to a report by the AFP news agency, the Covid-19 pandemic has already claimed more than 247,000 lives and infected more than 3.5 million people in 195 countries and territories.

More than a million patients are considered fully recovered.

The number of Covid-19 deaths in Africa has risen to 1,800 in the past few hours, with more than 44,000 cases of the disease reported in 53 countries, according to the latest pandemic statistics from the continent.

Source: Lusa