Out To Lunch: How Coronavirus will disrupt some businesses

By Denis Jjuuko

Last month, some media houses carried stories that some school owners had been arrested for defying a presidential order to close schools during this coronavirus outbreak. Some religious leaders are said to have been arrested too for conducting prayers during this period. Yet with technologies, this shouldn’t be the case. Here are a few areas that the coronavirus is going to help change.

Education
Our universities are ran almost the way they were 90 years ago. Right now most Ugandan university students are idle at home. Many of them spend most of their time watching one series after another. The majority of university students in Uganda today have smartphones, computers or come from homes with smart TV sets. Lessons for university students should actually be ongoing online where they could log in, learn and even do tests and exams. Students from international schools in Uganda are having their classes at home today using Microsoft and Google applications. The same applications are available to universities but are we using them? Universities can learn from international schools

Also, if a child goes to a local school that charges about a million shillings, they too could be able to provide some lessons. Kids who attend such schools are right now on their tablets watching cartoons and such other things. If there is anything that coronavirus is teaching us is that some schools can continue even during lockdown.

Meetings
A few years ago, I was invited to a meeting in Entebbe along with some other people. This was during the pre-Entebbe Expressway days. I struggled with traffic jam and wasted some good money on fuel. The meeting, like most Ugandan meetings, didn’t even start on time as we had to wait for the convener and other people.

When it finally started, more time was spent on self introductions and such other unnecessary stuff. The real stuff discussed didn’t last for more than 20 minutes. I had wasted a whole day to physically attend a meeting that lasted only 20 minutes! Some people were happy though because they got some meeting allowances, lunch and such other things. I wondered why we didn’t have the meeting through teleconference because all of us had mobile phones. We could have done skype or something.

Today, the corona pandemic has taught Ugandans that there are apps such as Zoom, GoToMeeting, BlueJeans, Skype, and even teleconferencing that can be used for people to meet. Companies and even organisations like Rotary are today easily conducting meetings online, something they had refused to do for ages. Without the coronavirus, it would have taken forever for people to appreciate these platforms. I believe that even after corona has ended, online meetings will become the norm rather than the exception. If you have been making lots of money on physical meetings, time to think of alternatives.

Churches are realizing now that they didn’t need to build gigantic structures everywhere. Some people can pray from the comfort of their homes and tithe and contribute offertory using mobile money and online banking.

Physical exercises and healthy eating

In the suburbs today, the roads are full of people walking, running, and everything in between. There is belief that if you are in good physical health, there are more chances of defeating the coronavirus when contracted than when you are unfit. And of course as people stay home, physical exercises are going to be important for one to remain healthy and mentally calm to handle all the bad and fake news that is circulating everywhere. I believe that a significant number of people who haven’t been doing any physical exercises will have picked up the habit by the time coronavirus is defeated and will therefore end up doing these exercises.

Eating foods that are considered healthy such as vegetables is expected to continue long after this pandemic. The cafes and restaurants that have been booming in Kampala have been mainly those selling fatty and unhealthy foods. There is a business opportunity here for those interested in the food industry to build a food empire that emphasizes healthy eating. As people pick up some of these good habits during this crisis, they will remain part of their lifestyles. If you are looking for where to invest, this is one sector you should be looking at.

Media
I always wonder why media houses are reluctant to use technologies such as GoToMeeting, Skype or Zoom to have stories from many parts of the country. With coronavirus, talkshows — a real cheap way of having local content could change forever as more people are connected to the studio to have their views. That will kill the monotony of the same people always appearing on the same shows and create the most needed media diversity that our media houses lack.

The writer is a Communication and Visibility Consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com