Effective Saturday, June 17, several parts of the country will be under a 10-day lockdown, as the government looks to tame the current spike in new Covid-19 infections. Movement will be restricted in districts of the country, including the three that make up the City of Kigali under the new measures that were adopted by cabinet on Wednesday. Despite the restriction, it is expected that a number of companies will still be authorized to continue operations. According to a statement from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, essential services that will remain in operation include markets and shops selling foodstuffs, butchers, milk and dairy product shops, essential banking and other financial services and insurance services. Others are mobile money services, waste collection and other essential sanitary services, customs and taxations services, petroleum products trading and telecommunication services. Industries that will be allowed to operate are those in agro-processing, those that produce the following; construction materials, sanitary products, facemasks and medical equipment and factories producing packaging materials. Shedding light on the new measures during a post cabinet news conference Thursday afternoon, the Minister of Trade and Industry Beata Habyarimana said that for companies and factories to be allowed to operate, they will be required to apply for working permits. The application, she pointed out, will be reviewed against a set eligibility criteria. “Priority will be given to those that offer or produce essential services and products, this is very crucial and it will be the main criteria,” said Habyarimana. While approved companies will be required to operate at limited capacity, the minister highlighted that part of the eligibility criteria includes the production capacity, in which she said that those who produce massively will be favored. “But also the geographic location since it is not only Kigali that is under a lockdown. There are some districts in the north as well as other parts of the country.” The number of employees in a specific company will also be required, as well as the position of that company within the value chain. For instance, she said, if it is a dairy product factory, it means that as livestock will still produce raw material, we need the products to be processed, so it’s a position in the dairy chain that should not be suspended. Also to be considered is the firm’s capacity to deliver to the market, with those that are able to deliver their products having a higher chance of being permitted to operate during the lockdown. Habyarimana also said that her ministry will consider the perishability of the products in awarding operational permits mainly for distribution. “There are some products which are perishable in nature, and others we can stock for 10 days, among those having essential goods will be key,” she reiterated. During the period of total lockdown, Minister Habyarimana asserted that all business activity will be closed from 5:00pm through 4:00 am. Minister Habyarimana rallied the business community to strategically think of operating their businesses in open spaces as part of the efforts to mitigate the spike in cases.
