Ghana slips into recession as GDP declines 1.1% in Q3, second in a row

Ghana’s economy slipped into recession on Friday as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted for a second straight quarter in the three months through September, even as the government eased restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

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GDP declined 1.1 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, government statistician Samuel Kobina Annim told reporters in the capital, Accra.

That compares with a contraction of 3.2 percent in the second quarter.

The data may put the central bank’s projection of 2 percent to 2.5 percent growth this year at risk.

West Africa’s largest economy after Nigeria is struggling to rebound from the impact of a virus-related slump, as many businesses remain shut.

Quarter-on-quarter GDP contracted 0.3 percent.

The economy of the world’s second-largest cocoa producer faces some uncertainty after its main opposition leader challenged the results of Dec. 7 presidential and parliamentary elections, saying his party work to get them overturned.

John Mahama, the flag-bearer for the National Democratic Congress, got 47.4 percent of total valid votes cast, trailing President Nana Akufo-Addo’s 51.6 percent, according to Ghana’s electoral commission.