School uniform maker Noah Mauto sits on a black couch in his home, writing down the details of a modest client order. “It’s better than nothing,” he said. The 44-year-old’s factory also makes tracksuits and blazers. But the extended product line has offered little cushion against the blow that COVID-19 lockdowns have dealt to his business. “We are surviving on very small orders, sometimes even from individuals,” he said. But not all Zimbabwean businesses are suffering the same fate as Mauto’s. Kerita Choga (34) launched an errand-running service, Tuma Kerri, in November. Within that short time, she said she has gained hundreds of customers — mostly from the Zimbabwean diaspora — looking to buy goods, including gifts, and to have them delivered to family and friends inside the county. “The numbers are looking good and I am very encouraged,” she said. The two businesses underscore how COVID-19 uncertainty is pushing some firms to the brink, while others are identifying new opportunities in the southern African nation — and even laying the groundwork for greater growth this year. Barely hanging on Like many other nations, Zimbabwe has intermittently ordered restrictions and closed schools since March of last year in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19. When schools were reopened on November 9, Mauto thought his fortunes had finally changed for the better. His optimism, though, proved premature. Authorities shut schools again in December after some institutions experienced a surge in COVID-19 infections. Since the close of 2020, Zimbabwe has seen an exponential increase in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, though with limited and erratic testing, the data is foggy. Confirmed infections currently top 34 700 — more than double the total for all of last year — and the disease is known to have killed at least 1 353 people in the country, according to Johns Hopkins University. The death toll from COVID-19 for the whole of 2020 was recorded at 409. A nationwide lockdown ordered on January 5 was recently extended through mid-February. “The month of January is traditionally one when we make a lot of money,” said Mauto. “Under normal circumstances as a business, we would be swamped with orders and struggling to supply everyone.” Even if business had held up, Mauto said, he would struggle to source enough fabric because his suppliers are not considered essential businesses. “I really want COVID to end now,” Mauto says. “Or the lockdown itself.” He is far from alone. “The lockdown has drastically affected businesses. The tourism and hospitality sector is the hardest hit,” Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries former president Sifelani Jabangwe said. But official sectors mask the deeper pain inflicted on Zimbabwe’s informal economy, where some 90% of the country’s residents eke out a living and where businesses are not considered “essential” and therefore exempt from COVID-19 restrictions. “The informal sector players have been affected because they live hand to mouth,” said Jabangwe, adding that they have seen their earni