A three year study on mitigating the socio-Economic impacts of Covid-19 and promoting post-pandemic resilience in Uganda, was on Tuesday September 8, 2020 officially launched. This was at an e-conference officiated the Commissioner for SMEs in Uganda’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives (MTIC) Dr. Joshua Mutambi.
The broad objective of the study to be carried out by EPRC and funded by the IDRC research grant, is to produce timely evidence to inform policies, measures and strategies to mitigate the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 on the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The commissioner noted that this project was timely because it focuses on important aspect of how Covid-19 has impacted on the economy with businesses closed and jobs lost. He stressed there was need for evidence on to what extent the businesses have been affected in order to inform policy options and appropriate interventions.
Dr. Mutambi said government has put in place several measures to mitigate the adverse effects but they are not exhaustive and thus the need for evidence based policy on interventions.
The Executive Director EPRC, Dr. Sarah Ssewanyana said “We believe that reliable evidence which will be generated from the project will move the country forward”. She urged stakeholders like the private sector and civil society to work together for the success of the project.
The e-conference was graced by Mr. Gideon Badagawa the Executive Director Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), Mr. Francis Odongo Abibi, the chief economist at the Uganda Development Bank Limited (UDBL) and Mr. Richard Jabo a principal economist who served as a panelist in the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development who served as panelists. Dr. Paul Okwi a senior programs Officer IDRC and Mr.Arjan De Haan the IDRC’s director of Inclusive Economic programs contributed to the conference via Zoom.
According to EPRC, the Project intends to follow a panel of MSME’s for three years to monitor and evaluate the business dynamics and the extent to which the policy responses are hindering or supporting recovery and resilience. The study will make substantial contributions to the evidence on the COVID-19 pandemic, research uptake and capacity building
Through the project, EPRC will conduct regular enterprise surveys that will enable periodic monitoring of how businesses are responding to the consequences of Covid-19 in Uganda.
End