Government’s “CARES” Program Will Mitigate COVID-19 Impact on Companies

Ghana News Agency 

Aug. 7, 2020

Mrs Kate Quartey-Papafio, the Sector Chairperson, Electricals and Electronics, Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has commended government for supporting large enterprises as part of COVID-19 Alleviation and Revitalization of Enterprises Support (CARES) Programme.

She said the support programme would help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on companies and boost their recovery process after the pandemic.

The Chairperson, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra, described the support system as timely, because most companies had laid off workers, while others reduced salaries in response to the impact of the pandemic.

Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance, presenting the mid-year budget review statement on Thursday July 23, said Government was developing a three-year COVID-19 alleviation programme: dubbed, “Ghana Cares Programme” to support the economy with GHC 100 billion from 2021 to 2023 to help rescue the economy from the devastating effects of the pandemic.

The impact of the pandemic on the country’s economy, the Minister predicted, could last for three years.

Mr Ofori-Atta said the Bank of Ghana had released GH¢5.5billion out of a GH¢10 billion COVID-19 support fund in line with the emergency financing provisions under the Bank of Ghana Act, to deal with shocks that accompanied the Coronavirus pandemic.

Mrs Quartey-Papafio said the COVID-19 crisis had ignited the innovative spirit of the citizens and demonstrated the ingenuity of Ghanaians to produce to meet local needs and that there was no need to import products that could be produced locally.

She implored entrepreneurs to do aggressive branding and enhanced digital marketing transactions for higher visibility and continuity in a post COVID-19 era.

She said since the outbreak of COVID-19, face-to-face business transaction had become difficult and called on businesses to explore and maximize the benefit of online transactions to remain competitive in the emerging world of business.

She encouraged captains of industry with the relevant capacities, to employ the use of Intelligence Automation and Robotic Process Automation- an accelerated digital transformation that would better improve their ability to meet the high demands of consumers.