Take advantage of global economic crisis to grow Ghana’s economy – World Bank to govt

President Akufo-Addo unveils US$10 million grant for tourism SMEs

Tourism sector key driver for economic growth – World Bank

Investment in tourism critical to economic growth

The Government of Ghana has been tasked to take keen advantage of the current happenings in the global economy and adopt pragmatic measures to grow Ghana’s economy in the medium to long term.

This is according to the Country Director of World Bank, Pierre Frank Laporte.

He believes the tourism sector is an important driver of economic growth for Ghana amid the current global crisis.

Touching on the prospects of the tourism sector and measures to adopt to propel economic fortunes, Mr. Laporte said players in the sector must demonstrate progress to renew support for the sector through critical investments and developments.

“In this period of global economic crisis, it is the right time to take calculated and strategic steps to review and grow our economies. Indeed, it is time for developing partners to show good faith with struggling economies."

"The World Bank Group stands prepared to go the long haul with countries like Ghana, and I urge the players within the tourism value chain to reciprocate this gesture from the Bank towards the Tourism Development Project by ensuring demonstrable results at the end of the day. This will be the only motivating factor that will keep the project going.”

Pierre Laporte made the remarks on July 6 at the launch of the Tourism SME under the Ghana Tourism Development Project in Accra.

Meanwhile, data released by the Oxford Business Group reveal travel and tourism contributed 5.9 percent to Ghana’s GDP in 2019, with $3.7 billion in revenue generated.

The fallout from the Coronavirus pandemic however attributed to the decrease in the figure to 2.9 percent of Ghana’s GDP in 2020 and $1.9 billion in revenue.

In terms of jobs, Ghana’s tourism sector accounted for 514,800 jobs in 2020, representing 4.2 percent of total employment while in 2019, the figure recorded a decline of 30.7 percent from 742,500 individuals employed in the sector.

This represented the startling impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on tourism which plays a key role in generating revenue and creating employment.

MA/FNOQ