Kampala, Uganda (RTN) -It is everyone’s goal in life to have a venture that brings in money to one’s pouch. Although one might be a bit lucky having a white-collar job, owning an income generating enterprise besides salary to supplement on your standard of living is a success.
Currently in Uganda many entrepreneurs are anxious with lots of contemplations whether they will afford managing their businesses at the end of the tunnel when COVID 19 is no longer a threat to the Nation.
Basically Uganda is composed of both the formal and informal sector though the informal sector takes the biggest percentage according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBoS) in their survey that was carried out in 2016 where by about 13.67 million persons of the working age (14-64 years) are engaged in the informal sector which represents about 98 percent of the total working age population.
After Uganda witnessing its first case of COVID 19, H.E Yoweri Museveni stiffened the restrictions on public gatherings within the country with businesses inclusive, to close with immediate effect without sparing any, other than those selling food stuff.
This has affected very many entrepreneurs across the country especially for those whose major source of capital was based on borrowed money.
At the very beginning, business people thought the suspension was to end as estimated by the government but as time went on the situation went beyond its control due to the number of people contracting the virus increasing hence causing tension among entrepreneurs as postponement continued.
Causing more ordeals to tycoons, the government has not come up with a strategy as yet to determine the fate of those specifically raising finances through borrowed money increasing the burden of paying back interest to their creditors.
Worst of all, the premises where these entrepreneurs operate from, are rentals, increasing the talks among themselves whether they will ever set off their businesses again due to the growing liabilities.
As a measure to lessen on the panic, H.E Yoweri Museveni requested all land lords not to ask for rent from their tenants for as long as the virus is still a threat within the country, however, he did not exempt them from paying later.
On that note, landlords as well as creditors are on the watch waiting for the lights to turn green such that they demand their share.
Entrepreneurs under the voice of The Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises (FSME) are calling upon government to intervene and give them a way forward such that creditors and landlords while demanding for their share are soft-hearted, otherwise the continuity of their walks of life is likely to come to an end as liabilities are piling up on them.
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