The disruption of social and economic activities by the novel coronavirus has no bounds as it continues its boomerang effect on every sector.
Even with a fraction of the world’s cases recorded in Africa, the continent is reeling from the ”invincible enemy” as described my many.
As at April 21st the number of cases in Ethiopia had reached 111.
The Government of Ethiopia has implemented measures to slow the spread of the virus and promote safety including a five-month state of emergency to fight the spread of the virus on April 11.
The latest Association in Africa to share data to illustrate the stress test its members are going through is the Addis Ababa Hotel Association.
The Report titled: ”The impact of covid-19 on the Addis Ababa market” indicates that 88% of hotels are fully and partially closed in Ethiopia’s capital of Addis Ababa.
The Association cites the announcement of Ethiopian Airlines cancellation of over 80 destinations to buttress the magnitude of the effects of the pandemic.
Click to download the full report
”It is safe to assume that Ethiopia’s tourist arrivals for year 2019/2020 will be severely impacted, with figures potentially falling lower than the 849,000 reported in 2018/2019 to less than 600,000. This sentient is evident with Ethiopian Airlines’ suspension and call elation of flights to over 80 destinations. along with limited carriers flying to Addis Ababa, the situation is expected to further hit hotel performance,” the report cites.
With over 15000 workforce being furloughed and expected revenue loss per month of US$35,000,000, the worse is yet to come as the virus rages on.
AHA found that 88% of its member hotels in Addis Ababa have decided to partially or fully close the hotels due to low occupancy rates. Closed hotels are 56%, Partial closure 32% with 12% as quarantined facility.
Financial Distress
The Hotel Association is collaborating with the Government of Ethiopia to help institute some reliefs and stimulus packages for members of the association. It has however not seen concrete commitments from the financial institutions to arrange new payment terms and moratorium on loan payments among other reliefs.
Outlook
The Association projects Q4 of the year or Q1 of 2021 to be back to a semblance of the business before the pandemic.
