Personal services sectors such as tourism, hospitality and retail at a standstill due to drastic measures taken in the fight against COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a heavier blow to personal services sectors compared with other recent economic crises, an UNCTAD analysis shows.
The pandemic has massively disrupted key services sectors, especially tourism, hospitality and retail. This contrasts with the resilience witnessed during the 2008 great recession and the 2011-2013 eurozone sovereign debt crisis, particularly in comparison to trade in goods.
An UNCTAD survey found that in the eurozone, the purchasing managers index (PMI) indicator, a measure of prevailing economic trends, in services and the composite PMI both contracted from above 50 points in January to minus 28.4 and minus 31.4 respectively by mid-March.
3the drastic but necessary social distancing and lockdown measures adopted in the eurozone in the last month,” said Pamela Coke-Hamilton, director of UNCTAD’s international trade division.
Personal services sector nearly destroyed
The strict measures deployed to combat the pandemic have nearly destroyed personal service sectors such as tourism, hospitality and transport.
Millions of economically vulnerable people in developing countries are reeling under the crushing weight of the measures, as these sectors absorb a large share of low-wage, low-skilled and part-time workers, many of whom are women.
“If the crisis persists, the whole tourism industry as we know it in developing countries may collapse,” Ms. Coke-Hamilton warned. Women represent more than half of the workers (54% in 2019) in the industry worldwide.
Restrictions on flights and on ships entering ports, have also affected remittances, a lifeline for millions in developing countries.
According to the World Bank, remittances were set to surpass foreign direct investment in 2019 to reach $550 billion, but both are likely to drop significantly in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Countries such as the Philippines, which relies heavily on remittances from its diaspora working in the personal services sector, along with 7 million tourists annually, may be particularly hard hit.
Other countries where remittances represent a high share of GDP, such as Kyrgyzstan (35%), Tonga (33%) and Tajikistan (31%), will also be severely affected.
Windfall for ICT services
In contrast to COVID-19’s debilitating impact on personal services, the pandemic has handed a windfall opportunity to services powered by information and communication technology (ICT).
They include services enabling teleworking, video streaming, gaming and e-commerce platforms.
The rapid growth of these “impersonal” services is being mostly felt in developed countries, as they boast widespread and higher quality ICT services.
“Nevertheless, this boom will not compensate for the loss of income from personal services sectors, especially in developing countries,” Coke-Hamilton said.
Policy coordination needed at all levels
To address the economic fallout from COVID-19, thematic policy coordination is needed nationally and globally, Coke-Hamilton underscored.
She said health policies should be devised and applied in tandem with macroeconomic, trade and finance policies in a holistic approach.
This is critical in the services sector, which relies on a coherent mix of policies and regulations between the sector and those in trade, investment, competition, industrial, social and other areas.
“Given that strict mitigation measures remain in place as countries battle the pandemic, government programmes to support furloughed or unemployed people through direct payments can help protect vulnerable workers from services sectors,” Ms. Coke-Hamilton said.
Governments should cast their nets wider to support the 164 million migrant workers worldwide, many of whom are women, working in personal services sectors, she added.
Such support may include providing them with secure access to financial services for sending remittances or giving them short-term loans.
Looking ahead, as developing countries continue to nurture exports of personal services as an important source of income, they need to fast-track and upgrade skills in knowledge-intensive ones suach as those powered by ICT.
“This will create jobs that are not just formal, qualified and high-quality, but also resilient,” Coke-Hamilton concluded.

Avails 1 million birr worth of fuel to emergency responders

Total Ethiopia has allotted and deployed resources to develop and implement various projects to fight Covid 19 on a national scale. These projects are being implemented by creating a strategic partnership with concerned government authorities and stakeholders. Projects include producing and distributing 100,000 bottles of hand sanitizers (500 ml.) and donating 80,000 bottles of sanitizers worth 15 million birr to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Transport as well as 20,000 bottles of hand sanitizers to employees, fuel truck transporters and partners working with Total Ethiopia.
Total has also donated fuel worth 1 million birr through Total Cards to the frontline emergency ambulances and service vehicles of the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) under the Ministry of Health. The company dedicated COVID-19 emergency fuel dispensing pumps for emergency service Ambulances to get fuel at fifty selected Total stations in Addis Ababa and major upcountry towns.
In addition Total Ethiopia donated 10,000 sanitary soaps worth 200,000 birr to be distributed to helpless elders, street boys and or selected NGOs like Mekedonia. Public hand washing facilities have been installed at fifteen Total stations and TQAS sites in Addis Ababa distributing soap and water to the community worth 150,000 birr.
In parallel, Total Ethiopia maintains its activities of fuel and lubricants supply throughout the country to its service stations and customer sites. With the aim of protecting employees and their family’s health, Total Ethiopia has minimized staff presence in the office by deploying work and availing IT equipment and platform that can be accessed from home. During the last three weeks, dedicated COVID-19 awareness voice messages against the virus are transmitted to all fuel truck drivers and Total Ethiopia employees.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic COVID-19 Total Ethiopia management, employees and its partners are joining hands to find ways to minimize the impact on public health and to limit disruptions of business activity and distribution of petroleum products in the country.
In so doing, Total Ethiopia in its corporate social responsibility program has taken various pragmatic and targeted actions as part of the national effort to fight the spread of the COVID-19.
Total Ethiopia was established in 1950 as a petroleum product distribution company, developed its activities by acquiring Mobil Oil East Africa assets in 2006. Today, the company operates with more than 150 service stations and five depots across the country, of which four are aviation depots, and Fuels and LPG depot, the Dukem depot. Dukem depot has a total storage capacity of more than 8 million liters of fuel. It also stores up to 100 tons of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), an electronically-operated LPG cylinder filling plant and an ethanol blending facility. This depot is uniquely situated to serve the industry at large with its extra installed capacity.
Total Ethiopia is the first and the only petroleum distribution company which started to implement On Board Computer (OBC) on fuel trucks and company owned vehicles. Total Ethiopia is also a responsible citizen company that is actively promoting road safety and transporters and fuel truck drivers’ wellbeing by putting in service the only fully-furnished drivers’ resting facility inside Djibouti, fighting against malaria, ensuring product quality and developing renewable energies such as solar energy and largely pioneering fuel transport safety system in the country.
Total Ethiopia motivates young entrepreneurs through “Total Startupper of the Year” program with the objective to identify and reward the best innovative and sustainable projects developed by young Ethiopian entrepreneurs.