During Wave III of the coronavirus pandemic in Ghana, the use of mobile money by businesses increased, the Covid-19 Firm Tracker has revealed.

It further indicated that about 70 per cent of firms report using mobile money in the third-round survey, compared to 53.4 percent in the second round.

The share of business establishments that have adopted or increased the use of internet for sales increased from 8.4 percent to 13.2 percent.

Firms also show some level of financial recovery some months after the emergence of Covid-19 pandemic in the country with its accompanied restrictions including the partial lockdown, the Covid firm tracker, further indicated.

From 0.8 percent in Wave II to 8.6 percent in Wave III, business establishments (all firms) have experienced an increase in access to financial services. Across sectors, the accommodation and food sector recorded the highest access to financial services in Wave III (13.1%) from 0.2 percent in Waves I and II.

The agricultural and other industries sector, however, experienced a decline in access to finance from a recovery of 8.7 percent in Wave II to 3.7 percent in Wave III.

Cashflow for business establishments have also seen significant recovery from as low as 1.9 per cent of business establishments reporting an increase in cashflow in Wave I to 9 per cent in Wave II and a further increase to 24.6 percent in Wave III.

Unlike access to finance, all sectors experienced an increase in their cashflows across the three waves. The manufacturing sector experienced the highest recovery with 32.1 per cent reporting an increase in cashflow in Wave III from 0.8 per cent in Wave I.