The Confederation of Mozambican Business Associations (CTA) announced yesterday the creation of a private sector committee to respond to Covid-19, in order to support companies affected by the pandemic to ensure the continuity of business and production process.
In a first phase, the multisectoral committee should deepen and guide reflection on the type and scope of responses that the national private sector, led by the CTA, should make to the challenges of the pandemic and the measures adopted to face the constraints of Covid-19.
For the private sector, the Covid-19 pandemic is severely impacting the performance of the national economy, destabilizing macroeconomic and financial indicators, resulting in pressure on business activity and the maintenance of jobs as well as the survival and social welfare of the majority of Mozambicans.
The vice president of CTA, Maria de Assunção Abdula, said yesterday in Maputo, at the public presentation of the commission, that until August 2020, the number of companies severely affected by the pandemic and that have suspended activities amounted to about 4300 at a national level.
However, as of September, with the easing of restrictions, most companies started to reopen, which reduced this number to less than 25%, so that the year ended with about 1075 companies totally closed due to Covid-19.
This is why, according to Assunção Abdula, the main attribution of this commission will be to provide subsidies to the Government and to the scientific commission created, about aspects that affect the business sector and to propose possible measures for its mitigation.
As part of this assignment, the commission will focus on measures to support the companies’ treasury, from the issue of tax obligations, bank credits, and others; establish cooperation and articulation mechanisms with the Government and other partners; establish a calendar for this private sector intervention, among others.
He also added that, the creation of the commission aims to enhance the contribution that the CTA has been giving, since the first study it developed in March 2020, on the impacts of Covid-19 in the business sector and the proposed measures for its mitigation.
