A recent study conducted by the Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) sheds light on the dire situation faced by 850,000 Ghanaians, predominantly women, who fell into extreme poverty in 2022.
This alarming trend was influenced by various factors, such as escalating government debt and the closure of international markets to Ghana.
Findings from research conducted in October 2023 underscore the challenges faced by Ghana, despite a modest recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.
Many of the individuals affected by this poverty surge found themselves increasingly susceptible to inflationary pressures, exacerbating a widespread cost-of-living crisis.
“While the economy had slightly recovered from the pandemic in 2021, high levels of government debt, the closure of international markets to Ghana, and global disruptions to the supply chain as a consequence of the war in Ukraine all led to a steep depreciation of the cedi (ITA, 2023).
“Considering the country relies heavily on imports, the situation resulted in high inflationary pressure. In 2022, nearly 850,000 Ghanaians were pushed into poverty due to rising prices (Kwakye et al., 2023: 44).
“By the time this research was conducted (October 2023), the inflation rate averaged 35 per cent. It was particularly high for food and non-alcoholic beverages (+45), and other necessities like health services (+28), housing, water and electricity (+25), transport (+25), and education (+13) (GSS, 2023a:7).”
The report found that the cost-of-living crisis disproportionately affects workers in informal employment, who make up 89 per cent of the employed population nationally (83 per cent in Accra).
According to the report, most workers in informal employment lack access to critical safety nets – pension and poverty relief programmes, cash transfers, and microfinance schemes – which leaves them particularly vulnerable to economic shocks.
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