President John Dramani Mahama has acknowledged that the Covid-19 pandemic reversed two decades of Ghana’s poverty reduction progress, wiping out hard-earned socio-economic gains in under two years.
Addressing a side event dubbed Accra Reset at the United Nations General Assembly, the President admitted the devastating impact of the pandemic on Ghana’s economy, noting how it worsened living conditions and derailed poverty alleviation efforts.
“The Covid-19 pandemic erased two decades of poverty reduction in less than two years,” Ghana Television quoted him as saying in a post on its official Facebook page.
The admission marks a shift from Mahama’s earlier stance. As opposition leader, he and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) rejected claims by the Akufo-Addo administration that the country’s economic struggles between 2020 and 2022 were largely due to the pandemic.
His remarks have sparked reactions from commentators and political observers, many of whom view them as vindication of the former government’s explanation for Ghana’s downturn during the pandemic years.
The pandemic, which struck in 2020, triggered global economic shocks, job losses, and rising living costs, setting back development efforts in both advanced and developing economies. For Ghana, its effects continue to shape discussions on economic recovery and resilience.