Ghanaian businesses reported an average 61% decline in sales since March

The Ghana Statistical Service has just released findings from their Business Tracker survey which presents some sobering statistics on the impact of the covid-19 restrictions on businesses and the labour force. 

The report estimates businesses lost GHS 115.2 million in sales since March. An estimated 770,124 had their wages reduced while an estimate 41,952 were laid off. The report also highlighted the limited access to the government's assistance for businesses with only 3.5% of firms receiving government assistance.

Greater Accra and Ashanti covid-19 case counts greater than most African countries

Greater Accra has more confirmed covid-19 cases  (18,882) than the other 15 regions combined (18,132).

If Greater Accra region were a country on its own in the WHO African region*, it would rank 6th out of 47 in case counts** after only South Africa (503,290), Nigeria (43,537), Ghana (35,501), Algeria (30,950) and Kenya (21,363).

Ashanti region (9,328), which has more cases than the other regions excluding Greater Accra combined (8,804), would rank 11th out of 47.

Revisting our July covid-19 projections

We made some projections on what the national covid-19 case count would be at the end of July. Now that July has ended, we compare the projected with the actual figures.

The initial projections were based on the daily increases in June. The projection ended at July 29th because the Ghana Health Service did not provide figures for June 30th. There are also no figures available for July 29th and so the comparison will be for July 28th.

World Breastfeeding Week

August 1st to 7th marks World Breastfeeding Week, a time to promote breastfeeding and raise awareness on the physical and emotional benefits of breastfeeding for child and maternal health. The week commemorates the 1990 Innocenti Declaration  signed by international development agencies and governments to enable women exclusively breastfeeding for the first 4-6 months of their child's life.

The theme for this year is “Support breastfeeding for a healthier planet”.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), having near universal breastfeeding can save the lives of 800,000 children and 20,000 mothers every year. This is because breastfeeding is linked to lower risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease for mothers. For children, breastfeeding provides complete nutrition, protects against infections and illnesses and promotes early childhood development.

WHO guidelines recommend exclusive breastfeeding from the first hour of the child's life up till 6 months old. After 6 months, nutritious foods should complement breastfeeding up to 24 months or more.