What Covid-19's damage to emerging economies means

THE novel coronavirus pandemic engulfing the world is creating impact globally in many sectors which had hitherto been unforeseen. Corporates initially bunkered down into crisis mode. However, depending on the location and the number of weeks spent in isolation, business is increasingly looking to the future to try to understand what the new world might look like.

One such impact, which is likely to be devastating for emerging markets in Asia and Africa, is an immediate cancellation of orders and potential re-evaluation of supply chains.

Major retail corporates in developed markets are cancelling orders with suppliers in Bangladesh, Vietnam and other South-east Asian countries, and other markets where supply chains have been longstanding owing to their low labour costs.