The Impact of Health on Economic Development: Ghana’s COVID-19 Management So Far

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic as a public health crisis also has a major effect on development. Though there has been a prediction of economic decline worldwide, developing African countries are anticipated to have the worst form of impact. In this paper, we reviewed the impact of COVID 19 on the economic development of Ghana. We observed that Ghana’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate had been reviewed downwards by the International Monetary Funds from 5.8 % to 1.5 %. This would be seen as the least recorded GDP growth since the year 1983. The Minister of Finance in a statement to the Parliament of Ghana indicated that COVID-19 would directly affect production, trade, and investment within Ghana and between Ghana and the world. He added that the pandemic will affect the prices of global commodities (crude oil, gold, and cocoa), tourism, fiscal stance, and human life, mainly the health and life of the most vulnerable. Also, COVID-19 would indirectly affect Ghana’s economic growth through the decline of global economic growth and supply chain interferences. In light of the socio-economic challenges created by the pandemic, Ghana has so far thrived immensely in the management of this crisis. Despite the future inevitable economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ghana will be able to endure with a good system of governance, adequate public health measures, and a strong macroeconomic foundation.