Effect of COVID-19 on small scale businesses in Uganda. A case study of Wandegeya Town

Abstract

This study assessed the effects of Covid 19 on small-scale businesses in Uganda using a case study of Wandegeya town. The study used a questionnaire to collect data from the 108 respondents in Wandegeya town. Data was analyzed at the univariate and bivariate levels of analysis using SPSS software package. The finding shows that almost all respondents experienced changes in earning since the outbreak of COVID 19. The changes in sales and costs existed but they were not statistically significantly different before and after covid 19 since their p-value were greater than the 0.05 level of significance. The study suggested that sanitizers, soap and hand washing equipment which be given to business at a free cost to reduce on their expenses while preventing the spread of the disease. Transport restrictions should be reduced to allow producers and their products to move from one market to another and reduce on the prices of the commodities. Bank of Uganda and commercial banks should provide credit relief to small and medium enterprises and also proactively provide emergency loans to SMEs with flexibility in repayments. Government should consider and adopt policies that recognize, license and regulate online trading which can be the only tool to ease trade during these hardships like the COVID 19 pandemic