The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNCEA) has called for the extra preventative measures for cross-border traders, considering that their nature of business exposes them to higher risk of contracting covid-19.

UNCEA indicated, in a policy brief titled Informal Traders: A Balancing Act of Survival, that informal cross-border traders have been hit hard by Covid-19, hence trade requirements should be relaxed for informal traders to survive. “Cross border traders should be supported through initiatives. For example, for authorities less comfortable with the idea of partially reopening borders to informal trade on foot, another option would be to facilitate the aggregation of small-scale traders’ goods,” said the report.

On the other hand, cross-border transporters have been negatively affected by the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen strict travel restrictions or complete lockdown, as both measures are disrupting the businesses.

For instance, the Chairperson of the Fuel Transporters Association, Gordon Luhanga, told The Daily Times that business has been slow for the past 2 months, as all spheres of transportation are on a standstill.