Following opposition leader Raila Odinga’s pledge not to back down on anti-government demonstrations, businesses in Nairobi and other major cities across the nation are preparing for yet another day of losses on Thursday. For fear of suffering losses during the protests, the majority of hotels in the CBD remained closed. On the other side, the majority of people have not reported to work, so they will not have any customers.

The protests, which began on Monday of last week and are now entering their third day this Thursday, are becoming expensive for businesses that must shut down while those that remain open must deal with the risks of looters and vandalism from some protesters.

Commercial areas, such as the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD), had to scale back operations during the most recent two protests, leaving some streets deserted as anti-riot police officers engaged picketers in running fights.

According to Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, his administration’s daily income collection was reduced to half as a result of the unrest, and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua claimed that one day of protests cost the nation up to Sh2 billion in business losses.

Also read Grappling with food shortage in Kenya, Lessons from Rwanda

The losses were estimated by a private sector lobbying organization to be Sh3 billion per day. However, there are currently no formal estimates of how much money and labor the demonstrations cost.