The producer of gold, oil, and cocoa, which has been battling the worst economic crisis in a generation as a result of skyrocketing public debt, has made significant progress toward recovery with strong growth.

“The 6.9% growth rate is the highest since the second quarter of 2019 and it was driven largely by strong expansion in the extractive sector, just as we saw in the second quarter of 2019,” government statistician Samuel Kobina Annim said, as reported by Zawya.

The mining and quarrying industry drove the 9.3% growth in Ghana’s overall industry sector, while the 23.6% growth in the gold sector during the quarter marked the third consecutive period of expansion.

According to Annim, there was a 5.8% growth in the services sector and a 5.4% growth in agriculture. But in the second-largest cocoa producer in the world, the industry shrank by 26.2% for the fourth straight quarter, underscoring the effects of a consistent drop in crop productivity brought on by disease and unfavourable weather.

As the West African state restructures its debt, the economic recovery is a welcome addition. The company has reached a preliminary restructuring agreement with two bondholder groups and invited holders of its approximately USD 13 billion in foreign bonds to exchange their holdings for new instruments.

Bondholders have until September 30 to accept the offer though those who agree to do so before an early deadline on September 20 will be eligible for a 1% consent fee.

Meanwhile, President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana has started building a 300,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery, which the government hopes will make the West African nation the petroleum hub of the region.

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The announcement of the E-Levy was made in November 2021 by the country’s finance minister.

Just like any other move, it too came with some industry stakeholders supporting it while some said that it would have a negative impact on digital payments and will affect the digitization journey.

The agencies involved in the implementation of the levy are the Ghana Revenue Authority, banks and specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions (DFIs), electronic money issuers (EMIs), and telecommunications companies (telcos).

According to Africa News, these agencies have put in place the relevant systems as well as mechanisms so as to start collecting 1.5 percent as a levy on daily electronic transfers.

As for the working, suppose A sends $7 in the morning and $6 in the evening, then the levy will not be applied. Whereas, if B sends $13 in the morning and $20 in the evening then they will be charged a 1.5 percent e-levy on the $20.

With this system in place, it is expected that people will soon start turning their backs on electronic payments. According to BBC, the Central Bank of Ghana reported that the industry lost over $1 billion in the last two months since November as people had started using cash ahead of the system coming into effect.

The government took this step to build a digital economy and at the same time reduce the use of physical cash. But it seems like it is not working as a huge drop in the use of mobile money services can be seen.

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