We knew that the COVID-19 pandemic was going to be a major disruptive force in our economy, we just did not anticipate that the damage would have been this deep and so prolonged.There has been nowhere to hide from its dangerous tentacles. What has made the disease so utterly discomforting has been its unpredictability. Just when the scientific world made us relax with new suggestions that the pandemic was about to dissipate, we saw the emergence of variants that caused us to consider reinstituting restrictive mitigating measures.One of the most heart-breaking revelations came recently from chief executive officer of the Small Business Association of Barbados (SBA) Dr Lynette Holder. She stunned us with the news that around 100 small businesses had folded during the pandemic.The revelation from Dr Holder was a grim reminder of the critical role played by these micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and their contribution foremost to employment levels and more specifically, the employment of women.
