Go digital to improve resilience, EAC companies told

Companies operating in the East African Community should adopt digital business models to improve resilience and continuity amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the East African Business Council (EABC), the pandemic has brought forth opportunities in e-commerce, which have significantly scaled down the cost of doing business by automating manual office operations and reducing human interaction.

This has since increased productivity and efficiency, EABC CEO Peter Mathuki said. 

Business Membership Organizations (BMOs) in the East African region are adopting Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software technologies, in a bid to improve service provision to businesses amid the pandemic.

 EABC in partnership with GIZ- Business Scouts for Development and the Federation of German Industries (BDI), this week held a two-day training for businesses on using CRM software.

This is to improve the capacity of BMOs in processing data and communicating effectively with members of the business community.

“The pandemic demands BMOs to be more proactive in giving feedback and analyzing data from members to inform policy advocacy initiatives such as the elimination of Covid-19 related Non-Tariff Barriers, among others,” Mathuki said.

During the forum, Zanzibar National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) executive director Hamad Hamad said:“It is critical for businesses to adopt digital tools to improve efficiency and maximize on returns. EAC Partner States Governments also need to adopt e-government solutions to give value to citizens.”

Governments in the region, among them Kenya, are keen on post Covid-19 recovery with the African Development Bank projecting the region is set to recover to 3.7 per cent in the baseline scenario and 2.8 percent in the worst-case scenario.

This is under the assumption that Covid-19 would be contained in the short-to-medium term (AfDB East Africa Economic Outlook, 2020.)

The pandemic has disrupted the global supply chain impacting trade in goods and services in the EAC.

EABC says in partnership with the Federation of German Industries (BDI) and GIZ- Business Scouts for Development, it remains committed to take lead in managing the CRM software to support BMOs in the region to improve communication with their members and stakeholder.