Five industries/sectors badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic

On August 16, 2020, there was a Shatta-Sark reunion. A reunion that fans of the two iconic musicians have long been yearning for.

The reunion which was the highlight of Sarkodie’s Black Love Virtual concert had everything symptomatic of their last encounter, four years ago.

The chemistry, energy and swag were without fault. They flowed seamlessly like they weren’t the two men who had been trading words in the public space.

But there was a point of departure between the two performances. Something unique that distinguished the two meetings.

In 2016, their teeming fans jumped hysterically and sang along as they performed the famous ‘me gye wo girl’ song but in 2020 their fans had to watch from places other than the venue where they stood to perform.

The reason for this situation is not unknown to even a toddler. Coronavirus is its name and its impact across the world has been devastating.

The Black Love Concert is just one of many entertainment events which either had to be held differently or cancelled due to the pandemic.

Ghana and the world were gearing up for Easter when the virus struck. The government as part of preventive measures placed a ban on all forms of social gathering which meant that the usual Easter music and movie shows were not going to be held.

Pubs, cinemas and clubs were closed down for months so artistes could not perform.

Movies could not be shot due to adherence to protocols as well as fear of safety. Even if you shot movies, where were you going to premier them?

The rippling effect on those in the entertainment value chain has also been huge. Event organizers, media, rental companies have all felt the pinch of the coronavirus bite.

Hospitality and tourism industries

On the back of the highly successful Year of Return program, Tourism in the country was expected to hit another high in 2020.

2019 saw an astronomic rise in the number of tourists with a figure of 1,130,307 stated by the Ghana Tourism Authority as the number of people who visited the country in 2019.

In all Ghana, made $1.9bn from the Year of Return programme according to the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Arts.

So expectations were that 2020 was going to build on the strides made in 2019 but coronavirus shattered everything.

With borders closed and movement restrictions imposed on people, tourist sites were abandoned.

For the hotels, guest houses and others, it didn’t take long for news of lay-offs to dominate the media space after the restrictions were announced.

For an industry that relies heavily on foreigners and people hiring rooms, places for conferences and other programs, the coronavirus was always going to hit hard and it did.

According to the ministry that oversees the two sectors, Ghana has as of June 2020 lost U.S.$171Million to the virus.

Professor Ishmael Mensah of the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management of the University of Cape Coast has predicted it will take between two to three years for Ghana’s tourism sector to fully recover from the virus. Sports

According to the Ghana Football Association, it spent more than GHC3million on the first half of the truncated league season.

And the Ghana Premier League is just one product of the GFA which is among over 40 certified federations by the National Sports Authority.

Just as the FA at some point had to scrap their season so are the other federations. Armwrestling, for instance, was supposed to host the 2020 Africa Armwrestling Championship which could have brought its own benefits.

The West Africa Swimming competition had to be cancelled due to the virus.

In football, national team assignments which come with enormous benefits to paraphernalia dealers, food sellers, hotels, transport companies have been botched.

Transportation industry

In line with social distancing protocols, commercial vehicle owners had to reduce the number of passengers, a practice that lasted from March up until August.

To add to their woes, the government increased the BOST margin which is one of the components of fuel pricing mechanism.

Though fuel prices were reduced it wasn’t enough to mitigate the impact of the losses the drivers and vehicle owners incurred in that period.

In the aviation industry, since March, international flights have not been operating in the country as borders have been closed albeit special dispensation to some airlines who had to evacuate some stranded Ghanaians.

Local commercial flights were flying half-empty until the president’s last address on the virus.

Officials of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority says a study is currently being done to assess the impact of the virus on the industry but it predicted in March that its revenue was going to be reduced by 20%.

Education

There is no denying the fact that Ghana’s education calendar has been shattered by the coronavirus.

Since March that all schools across all level of education were closed down, normalcy is still yet to return in that industry.

The government-owned schools may be able to survive but the private schools have been suffering and crying for help from the government.

The closure of schools has led some teachers in the private education space losing their jobs and resorting other means to survive.

The Ghana Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) has appealed to the government to offer a stimulus package of GH¢400,000 to the council to enable it to pay salaries of their teachers and other staff.