Not Ordinary Times; Ghana in the Shadow of COVID-19
Situational analysis
A visibly worried Health minister flanked by his counterpart for Information and officials from the Ghana Health Service announced the country’s first cases of Covid-19 in the late evening of March 12, 2020 at a press conference. Many Ghanaians had hoped the country would escape this pandemic as it did the Ebola crisis in 2014, but it was not to be. In fact, a WHO preliminary assessment identified the county as “high risk” in Africa. Since the first two cases, which were imported from Norway and Turkey, Covid-19 has now become a true public health crisis for the country.
National response
Since the pandemic broke, the President has addressed the country 8 times in the space of two months. The major steps taken by the government to curb the spread of the virus include;
- A 3-week partial ‘lockdown’ was imposed in parts of Accra and Kumasi, the country’s 2 largest cities on March 30 along with closure of the land borders and suspension of domestic and international air travel.
- Schools and universities have been closed until further notice, social functions have been suspended while restaurants, hotels, supermarkets and shopping malls remain open but must observe strict hygiene and social distancing protocols.
- A Covid-19 tracker app has also been launched to aid contact tracing.
Economic and Social Life are worse hit: Along with more epidemiological steps to curb the spread, some economic and social interventions have been put in place.
The government has received a $1 billion Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) from the World Bank to deal with the economic impact of the crisis. The government has also announced an additional GH¢600 million (app. $105 million)stimulus package for local businesses.
Payment of water bills has been suspended for 3 months and electricity has been made free for lifeline consumers for the same period. The Government also spent about GH₵2 million (app. $348,000) per day on a social intervention scheme to provide hot meals for about 400,000 vulnerable people in locked down areas during the 3-week period.
A Covid-19 funds set up by the government has received financial and material support from private individuals and corporate organizations to ease the economic burden on the state. The private sector has also initiated the construction of an emergency isolation and medical facility in Accra to complement government hospitals.
In one of his addresses, the Ghanaian President made a profound statement that summarizes the object of a response to such pandemics from governments, his statement was widely shared by other world leaders and social media users.
Implications for the future — a blessing in disguise?
The lockdown was lifted on April 20 but some restrictions remain in place. The pandemic has affected several aspects of the Ghanaian society. This is how the pandemic could change Ghana:
Economy — the pandemic has shown how we are connected as a world in terms of production systems but it has also exposed how ‘dangerously’ dependent countries like Ghana are on imports to meet their most basic of needs. This pandemic could see the county accelerate its industrialization drive to reduce dependence on imports and create a vibrant manufacturing base.
Digital Revolution — Ghana is already recognized as one of the countries that is leading Africa into the information age. It has a dynamic digital ecosystem that is becoming ever more competitive and currently hosts Google’s AI Africa center. The government has also been championing a digitization agenda and post Covid-19 could see the development of new digital innovations, emergence of remote working among others.
Social life — one of the most difficult things for Ghanaians during this period is observing ‘alien’ protocols like social distancing; we are accustomed to physical social interactions and attending large congregational social and religious functions, so a reduction in these will be a bitter pill we may not be prepared to swallow. However, this pandemic could leave a psychological ‘hangover’ and some people especially in Accra and other urban centers will adapt to what is becoming the ‘new normal’ and of course, the digital space will greatly benefit from this.
Increased Health Investments — this pandemic has also exposed the inadequate preparedness level of the health system to respond to global health emergencies. The country could invest more in new hospitals, equip existing ones as well as invest in medical research. The President has already promised to construct 90 new hospitals across the country and scientists from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) have also developed Covid-19 test kits locally.
Urban planning and lifestyle changes: The way forward
A post Covid-19 urban lifestyle context will be most observed in the capital Accra, which is the most sophisticated urban area in the country.
Remote working could be become a viable option for companies especially those working in service and tech-based activities. A reduction in physical social interaction could change the ‘collectivist’ urban social lifestyle towards a more individualistic and reclusive one which could mean a bigger market for virtual services and entertainment.
For city planners in Accra, they would need to provide support for the development of smart infrastructure while improving existing traditional urban infrastructure to transform the city into a ‘smart metropolis’ so as to benefit from the post Covid-19 global economy. The pandemic has also once again highlighted the plight of the urban poor. A more effective poverty mapping strategy is key to identify and craft sustainable interventions to address urban poverty and inequality in the city.
Overall, the Covid-19 could go down in history as the worse crisis the world has faced in the 21st Century but it could also prove to be the trigger for profound changes that will shape economic, social and environmental processes in Ghana and the rest of the world for the better. As Winston Churchill once said, we should never waste a good crisis. Perhaps this is our “good crisis” though a painful one, there are definitely many reasons to be optimistic about our future!
