Socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on Ghana's economy: challenges and prospects

Abstract

PurposeThe world's economies are on their knees following the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic over the past 8 months. Growing number of researches has been conducted on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on developed countries with little attention on developing countries, who are still grappling with the negative impact of the coronavirus. The rationale for this study is to assess the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on Ghana's economy and government response to the pandemic as well as policy options to revive the ailing economy.Design/methodology/approachThis study explored the socio-economic impact of the coronavirus on Ghana's economy using a discourse analysis with data from various secondary sources to analyze the impact of the pandemic from the Ghanaian perspective.FindingsThe findings from the discourse analysis revealed that the coronavirus pandemic has negatively impacted on the socio-economic situation of the citizens of Ghana. Whiles an estimated 42,000 people lost their jobs in the first two months of the pandemic in Ghana, tourist attraction sector of the country alone lost $171 million dollars in the past three months due to the partial lockdown and closure of tourism and hospitality centers in the country. The study revealed that Ghana's healthcare system has been overwhelmed by the number of increasing cases in the country to extent of making use of temporary structures as isolation and treatment centers of the pandemic. The study revealed that Ghana may convert these challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic into prospects and opportunities by investing massively in the health sector and creating support for the SMEs which creates massive employment for many Ghanaians.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 on Ghana's economy and how the pandemic has negatively affected the country. The study is an exploratory study that makes use of secondary data. However, conducting a study with primary data sources from specific communities or regions in the country may not produce the same results. The results from the primary level or community level may be different from the general results obtained from the study. In future it is expected that the study focuses specifically on the extent of the coronavirus pandemic on Ghana's fiscal deficit which seems to have ballooned in recent times.Originality/valueThe study is the first of its kind to extensively explore the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Ghanaian economy. The novelty of this paper is that it recognizes governments response to the pandemic and proposes three practical measures adopted to put the country's economy back on its feet through survive, revive and ensuring growth in all sectors of the economy.

The effects of on-the-job embeddedness and its sub-dimensions on small-sized hotel employees’ organizational commitment, work engagement and turnover intentions

“…The hospitality industry makes a significant contribution to the nation's gross domestic product (Aduhene and Osei-Assibey, 2021). Prior to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry had recorded an unparalleled influx of over 1 million international arrivals as a result of the Year of Return, Ghana 2019 campaign, which injected about $1.9bn into the national economy (Reality Check team, BBC News, 2020;International Labor Organization, 2020).…”

Why English teaching truth on digital trends as an effort for effective learning and evaluation: opportunities and challenges: analysis of teaching English

“…Obligations such as social distance, wearing masks, washing hands, and avoiding crowds push schools and universities to move their teaching and learning processes face-to-face to online. Of course, this is true for school administrators, instructors, students, and parents who are compelled to adjust to these circumstances (Aduhene & Osei-Assibey, 2021). They come to understand the significance of digital literacy so that the learning process may continue, despite the challenges that schools, students, and parents face.…”

The effects of community safety support on COVID‐19 event strength perception, risk perception, and health tourism intention: The moderating role of risk communication

“…Until April 13, 2021, 135,057,587 coronavirus cases (COVID‐19) and 2,919,932 deaths have been reported from World Health Organization (WHO). As a major public health emergency with the fastest spreading speed, COVID‐19 had serious impacts on agriculture (Jami, 2021 ), tourism (Im et al, 2021 ; Salem et al, 2021 ; Zheng et al, 2021 ), economy (Aduhene & Osei‐Assibey, 2021 ; Pham et al, 2021 ), and public health (Pu et al, 2020 ).…”

“…As a major public health emergency with the fastest spreading speed, COVID-19 had serious impacts on agriculture (Jami, 2021), tourism (Im et al, 2021;Salem et al, 2021;Zheng et al, 2021), economy (Aduhene & Osei-Assibey, 2021;Pham et al, 2021), and public health (Pu et al, 2020).…”