The covid-19 pandemic has had a significant effect in the economy since the first case was reported in the country back in March 2020.

The restrictions and guidelines that followed in a bid to manage the spread of the disease led to closure of business, schools and other major sectors that drove the economy of the country.

Small Micro-Enterprises were affected too, people lost jobs, others were forced to take unpaid leaves with others forced to retire early.

For 24-year-old Purity Akinyi who used to sell ladies shoes at the Kongowea market, a directive issued by the County Emergency Response Team on Covid-19 to close the market for 30 days last year had a huge impact to her business.

The ban on night travel and the partial lockdown of some counties especially Nairobi hit her business hard.

“I get my items from Nairobi especially Gikomba and Eastligh, when the covid-19 restrictions were put in place especially the night travel ban and locking Nairobi, my business suffered a lot,” said Akinyi.

Akinyi said that the number of her clients drastically went down forcing her to close shop as people feared to go out to gatherings.

“I had to close my stall because I was paying rent yet it’s only a few people who were coming for fear of contracting the virus, furthermore the closure of the market threw the business out of balance for a while,” said Akinyi.

It is amidst the pandemic that she realized that people were spending most of their time online, that’s when the idea to use social media platforms to advertise and sell her products developed.

Ever since, she has created her online brand ‘Sucre collections’ diversifying the products she sells from shoes, earrings and perfumes.

She remains optimistic that with the lifting of the curfew and easing of restrictions, the future looks bright because more opportunities await her.

“I have been using social media to sell my products, I receive orders and deliver to all my clients, it has opened up the market for me because I am able to sell to people outside Mombasa,” said Akinyi.

She recently began offering mobile nail polish services, with a phone call she says, she goes to where her clients are and do their nails.

Venturing into business amidst pandmic

For 26-year-old Felix Birongo, venturing in business during the pandemic proved both a challenge and an opportunity for him.

Birongo, an accountant by profession and having worked in the corporate world for 4 years, decided to venture into business towards the end of 2019.

“I was undecided on what to do, I wanted to open a barber shop or a carwash or a motor bike repair shop, after consulting widely, I settled for the motorbike repair business,” said Birongo.

In January 2020, he finally opened Silcah Ventures, a motor cycle repair shop specialized in TVS brand spare parts located in Kongowea Karama Stage, Mombasa.

The first two months he described as being low because he didn’t do much as he was still learning the trade.

As soon as things began to move up after securing a trusted mechanic to work in the shop, the first positive case was reported in the country in march 2020, what followed was a ban on importations from China where he gets most of his spare parts.

“The directive came as a blow though it did not affect the business much, I could get some of the parts from Nairobi so the business managed to remain afloat,” said Birongo.

The order to reduce the number of passengers using public means of transport meant that bodaboda business was going to boom and as such more repair works for him due to ware and tare.

“I can say that I got a bit lucky in my line of business because motorbikes were reaping big because passengers most people were pessimistic to use public means opting to use bodaboda instead,” said Birongo.

New Opportunities

The advice by the ministry of health to minimize cash transactions also presented him with an opportunity to open Mpesa services alongside the business.

Birongo who is currently working as an auditor, said that the pandemic made him change his perspective about getting into business.

He believes that opportunities present themselves when you least expect and one should be bold enough to grab it.

“I am a strong believer of making use of an opportunity once you see it, they come to you once so hesitate when one presents itself to you, garb it and make the best out of it,” said Birongo.

He recently opened Kibarazani Bistro, a food joint located just adjacent to his motorbike repair business.

“The previous owners of the place had defaulted to pay their rents for several months and were evicted by the agents administering the premises, I saw this as an opportunity since there was ready market and took it,” said Birongo.

Through his business, he has managed to employ eight people in total even as he thinks of venturing into more areas of business.

With president Uhuru’s order to lift the Curfew during his Mashujaa Day commemoration speech Wednesday, Birongo hopes to run his businesses on a 24-hour basis to increase his profits margin.

“With the lifting of the curfew , I see big opportunity to grow, I’m looking at operating the bike repair shop at night too so that the bodaboda people who operate at night can get services if their bikes stall, as they get serviced they can also enjoy a cup of tea to beat the cold,” he said.