Recent data from the COVID-19 Business tracker survey for wave III conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service, GSS, between 1st and 30th September 2021, has revealed an improvement in sales of some Small and Medium-sized Enterprises as a result of the government’s stimulus packages.

The positive effect was evident amongst small businesses as their sales increased by 11.5%.

In a statement issued by the Ghana Statistical Service, the Government Statistician, Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, noted that, “The findings from the Third Wave of the COVID-19 Business Tracker indicate that the government stimulus impacted positively on firms’ sales with an increase of 11.5 percent with small firms benefitting the most with almost double the increase (22%). Sales increased by 33 percentage points between Waves I and III with the change mainly driven by firms in the top 35th percentile”, he said.

The data from the COVID-19 Business tracker survey for wave III conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service, also revealed that over 90 percent of local businesses were opened during the period of the survey.

The figure is much higher than about 73 percent and 86 percent of firms reported opened during the first and second waves of the pandemic, respectively.

The Wave III Business Tracker also showed the rising use of mobile money among firms for sales.

Data compared to Waves I and II, reveal almost 7 out of 10 firms are now using mobile money to do business, with mobile money usage increasing from 35.7% and 53.4% (Waves I and II respectively) to 69.6%(WaveIII). Similarly, more businesses are adopting the use of the internet for sales.

“We need to reimagine development in the digital age. It is encouraging to see more firms embracing digitalization as a default to improve business. UNDP remains committed to supporting Government’s digital agenda and recovery efforts to accelerate the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”, stated Angela Lusigi, UNDP Resident Representative in Ghana.

The top three policies supporting the firms desire to become resilient were loans with subsidized interest, cash transfer and access to new credit.

“The improvement recorded over the periods is remarkable, but we also need to pay attention to the policy supports required by the firms. The World Bank will continue to support the Government of Ghana in its efforts towards the country’s economic recovery,” noted Pierre Laporte, World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The COVID-19 Business Tracker is a collaboration between the Statistical Service, UNDP and the World Bank which aims at providing critical information to help the Government of Ghana, development partners.

Through the Business Tracker Survey, the Ghana Statistical Service aims at providing critical information to help the Government of Ghana, development partners and other organizations monitor the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses.

The Business Tracker Survey is part of the global Business Pulse Survey (BPS) initiative of the World Bank, surveying the impact of COVID-19 on the private sector in more than 50 countries.

For the Ghana survey, 4311 firms were interviewed during the first round, of which 3658 were re-interviewed during the second-round while 4,858 firms were interviewed during the third round including 1200 new firms.