Economic recovery is the main motive of Ghana as it opens land and sea borders to celebrate the end of Covid-19 restrictions imposed at the outbreak’s start.
“We are seeing light at the end of a very long tunnel,” President Nana Akufo-Addo remarked in a televised address. “I guarantee you that our economy will recover from the effects of Covid-19 sooner rather than later.”
Without a negative PCR test result, fully vaccinated passengers will be permitted admission across land and sea crossings starting Monday March 28, 2022, according to President Akufo-Addo. Citizens and foreign residents in Ghana who aren’t completely vaccinated would be required to submit a negative 48-hour PCR test result before being administered vaccine, he added.
While Ghana’s economy rebounded from a pandemic-induced recession in the third quarter of 2020, the country’s overall financial health has yet to improve owing to a rise in the budget deficit and debt levels. Due to a sell-off of the country’s international bonds since late last year, the government was compelled to decrease spending to 30% of the approved budget for 2022 last week.
The president stated that the policies being implemented will assist promote economic growth “at a far faster rate, help generate jobs for the youth, and help us overcome the issues we are facing.” The economy is expected to rise 5.8% this year, up from 5.1 percent predicted for 2021.
The overall number of active coronavirus infections in Ghana was 72 on March 25, according to Akufo-Addo, and no one is very ill. He said the nation has already given out 13.1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine and intends to reach its goal of vaccinating 20 million Ghanaians by June.
People flying by plane into Ghana who are fully vaccinated will no longer be needed to take PCR tests in their home country to gain entrance, and they will not be tested after they arrive, according to Akufo-Addo. Travelers without the Covid-19 vaccine, on the other hand, must have a 72-hour negative PCR test result before boarding, take an antigen test upon arrival, and be given immunization, he added.
Face masks will no longer be required starting March 28, and all in-person activities such as those in churches, mosques, conferences, cinemas, and theaters, as well as outdoor functions at sporting events and political rallies, can resume at full capacity as long as the audience and participants are fully vaccinated, according to the president.
