WOMEN AND ECONOMY AMIDST PANDEMIC: LESSON FROM SHONA EPZ IN KENYA DURING COVID 19

Many things run in minds when they hear the term woman. Some people would think of the one that Carried them for nine months, others would think of that supporting Lady you call your wife who has been helping you throughout your hard times, and another will think of the pillars of the economy not forgetting the drivers of joy to the world. None the less it is always that positive thought.

Corona Virus a pandemic took the world in a storm. From the first world to third world countries many companies seized operation, resulting in a massive loss of jobs. Here in Kenya, we talked to EPZA Limited (Export Process Zone Authority) company that managed to keep 100 % of their employees who are mostly women. Shona Epz is the largest textile Apparel Sourcing company in E. A. The factory situated in Athi River, a town found at the outcast part of Nairobi in Machakos county. It produces a variety of products from Jeans, boxer’s T-shirts, Tank tops, Trousers for big global brands such as Calvin Klein, Hennes and Mauritz (H.M), Victoria secrets, Tommy Hilfiger and many more. Even though Shona EPZ was greatly affected by the outbreak of coronavirus and were on the verge of letting go of 40% of their employees, they still found a way of not only keeping all their employees but also helping Kenya in the fight against coronavirus by producing personal protective Equipment’s approved by the National Government. In an Inquest to find out what exactly was the driving force for this, we talked to Isaac Maluki the CEO of Shona EPZ

"After the pandemic struck in China we had to think what we would have to do as a company," he started.

“Our greatest worry was our Employees because we were wondering whether to give our staff unpaid leave until situation calm down or try and look for other alternatives that would allow us to keep our employees and still give them some earnings,” he explained.

“At that point, we thought why not just start manufacture what we are finding is becoming the difficult thing to manufacture around the world which was the PPEs and mask,” he said.

Mr. Maluki further explains to us that by the help of the Kenya Association of manufactures, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Health and the Kenyan Fashion council they were able to discuss with the government on solutions that could be done and Shona Epz Limited was able to win a contract with the government to make Personal protective equipment’s (PPEs). Shona EPZ become among the three companies licensed to manufacture protective gear by the government. The other companies included Kitui County Textile Centre (KIKOTEC) in Kitui and Bedi Investment Limited in Nakuru.

Being able to offload our PPEs garments such as aprons, surgical mask, safety footwear, coveralls, and a surgical mask to the local market during this pandemic, meant that EPZ would be able to retain all their employees who are mostly women.

 “The ratio of female to male in terms of the people they impact out there, I believe that for the women is higher and that is why most of our employees are women. We believe that as we employ more women in our company we are impacting more people,” he concluded.

 Rama Tumbo who is a production manager at Shona EPZ told us that in a day they could produce more than 50 000 sets of PPEs.

“When we produce 50, 000 pieces of the PPEs aprons then we also have to produce the same amount of Masks, Safety footwear, and coveralls because we sell them as a set. We have 300 Employees working for 24 hours a day so we can manage, "Rema stated.

Joseph Kayalo who is the Human Resource Manager said that initially they were only allowed to supply only 20% of their PPEs to the local market and they had already laid off 40% of their employees. Things turned positive later after the government uplifted that restriction and allowed them to sell 100% of their PPEs and mask to the local market and they were able to retain all their employees.

Cendrine Wahungu who is a supervisor at Shona says that they were working day and night to ensure they produce protective gear so that the doctors can protect themselves when they are fighting Covid-19. Cendrine is one of the staffs whose effort was very influential since they opted to manufacturing PPEs. 

It is true to say that in any economy that is yet to develop, tough economic situations will always call for a change of strategy, towards a strategy that aims at reducing inequalities for the well-being of the society.

 

 

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