By Daisy Okanga | The COVID-19 virus has caused a severe impact on global markets with the electronic business facing the greatest plummet in years.
Kenyan traders who import from China are running out of stock due to the travel restrictions to and from China. In Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD), wholesalers and vendors of goods imported from China,the epicentre of the virus, are running into a shortage of merchandise as they cannot import from the Asian Countries.
According to international sources, stores in China have also been closed down making it even harder for the business industry. This is likely to see an eventual increase in prices of these commodities as business people try to maintain their profit levels.
China is among the top trading partners of Kenya, thus traders have not been able to move into China due to the fear of the Coronavirus fears.
Several Chinese cities are still not allowing office and factories to reopen due to the restrictions put in place to contain the spread of the virus, stagnating the production industry.
Customs clearance, sourcing and shipping are some of the challenges which Kenyan importers are facing when shipping in equipment from abroad and now the virus has barred them from moving around.
Global shipping companies that carry goods from China say they are reducing the number of seaborne vessels as measures to stop the spread of the virus demand for their services and threatened to disrupt global supply chains.
DHL, a global shipping company, which is mostly used by Kenyan importers, has since suspended deliveries in Hubei Province, the epicentre of the virus, but said it does not foresee other changes to its operations.
