Effects of lockdown caused by COVID-19 on women's businesses in Rwanda. A case study of Gahaya links and Associated suppliers (2020 – 2021)

Abstract

The lockdown measures taken during historical pandemics and plagues had negative effects on the population and more impact on women. COVID-19 pandemic which started in China in December 2019 and spread worldwide, has been controlled by lockdown measures. Different countries, including Rwanda implemented the lockdown measures but research is yet to highlight their effects on women’s businesses in Rwanda for better policy formulation and planning. This study was thus initiated to examine the effects of lockdown caused by COVID-19 on women’s businesses in Rwanda, with a case study of Gahaya Links and its associated suppliers. It analyses women’s experiences during lockdown, examines the extent to which this lockdown affected their businesses, investigates whether there has been any financial support received by these women in order to overcome the effects of the lockdown on their businesses, and makes recommendations to better support women’s businesses recover from the adverse effects of the lockdown. This study was designed as a qualitative and a case study inquiry. It used purposive sampling in the selection of participants. Data was collected using desk review and in-depth interview with 27 participants from Kigali City and surrounding areas, especially Bugesera District and 9 key informants from public, private and civil society organisations in Rwanda. The findings show that women in non-essential businesses, such as handcrafts, have been severely hit as they were all temporarily closed during the lockdown. The majority (more than 80%) of participants are unable to resume their businesses following the first lockdown (March-May 2020), due to the fact that the little capital and savings they had were consumed in the first few weeks of the lockdown. Government has put a side a recovery fund and banks have put in place loan payment restructuring schemes to help businesses recover from effects of lockdown. However, over 90 % of the participants indicated that they have not accessed any of the scheme due to lack of information and failure to meet the requirements which compromises the effectiveness of the policy of women’s economic empowerment. Therefore, recommendations were formulated in order to address the identified challenges such as applying gender lenses in economic recovery funds available for women in small businesses to access them easily.