Working Paper

COVID-19 and its Impact on Trade and Transport Sectors in Tanzania – Working Paper

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the countries around the East African region in different ways with its impact varying across the countries. Also, each country has adopted its approach to dealing with this health crisis, even though they share common borders and also a lot of activities are done across borders, including trade in all sizes. As a result, all sectors whose activities involve crossing borders were heavily affected in different ways mainly due to limitations of the flow of goods and people from one country to another. These problems were amplified by countries’ mistrust of the approach used by others in dealing with the pandemic. This study examines the extent to which COVID-19 has affected the trade and transport sectors in Tanzania. In the trade sector, the study examines the performance of the sector and goes into deep analysis of selected goods. In the transport sector, the study focuses on assessing the effective flow of goods along the central corridor. Also, the tourism sector has been analysed, given that the transport sector is one of its important aspects in its chain. In that manner, the study assesses the tourists’ arrival in Zanzibar, which is one of the main sources of Zanzibar’s income. Overall, the study analyses the performance of transport and trade sectors in Tanzania before and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.