Just as many countries across the world and the African continent are currently doing, Ghana is moving into the post-pandemic era as it has reopened its land and sea borders which had previously been shut except for cargo goods in the past two years. In his 28th national COVID19 update, Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo announced the measures taken thus far to limit the spread of the coronavirus, saying that the time was now right to open the borders and set about getting the country back on track for economic recovery. Ghana’s economy has struggled to rebound from the after-effects of the pandemic – in addition to its mounting public debt- now hovering at 80% of the GDP, as well as economic fallout from the ongoing Russia Ukraine crisis. On the midweek edition of Business Edge, Tolulope Adeleru-Balogun takes a look at Ghana as it reopens its borders for the country’s economic recovery. She’s joined by Dr Josh Bamfo, Partner & Head of Transfer Pricing & Economic Services at Andersen Nigeria.
Closing the land and sea borders wasn’t an easy decision but one that ultimately proved to be of extreme importance as the coronavirus ravaged the world in 2020. “Government had the challenge of balancing saving lives and saving livelihoods,” Dr Bamfo says. But as the world closed down and global trade slowed to a halt, Ghana also had the responsibility of dealing with the health crisis first. “Over time, however, once we see that the [COVID] situation is getting better, we make adjustments and decisions to lift some of the restrictions,” he added.
It became imperative to jumpstart the economy and reopen these borders. Economists have estimated the loss incurred by ECOWAS States to be $50 billion, about 50% of the total GDP of the region. While Ghana hasn’t released specific data for the country in that period, one can assume that it is substantial, given Ghana’s standing as the second-largest economy in West Africa.
Watch the full episode of Business Edge above.
