By John Ikani
President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo has announced the reopening of Ghana’s land and sea borders, after two years Covid closure.
Announcing the decision in a televised address on Sunday night, Akufo-Addo explained that it was hinged on a sustained drop in Covid infections in Ghana and neighbouring countries.
Ghana’s economy is struggling to rebound from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and with a heavy public debt load.
Ghanaians living in border communities usually trade with neighbours in Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo.
The reopening is expected to improve economic relations between Ghana and her neighbours, as well as bring life back to border areas.
The president also scrapped the requirement for negative PCR tests for fully vaccinated travellers arriving in the country through the Kotoka International Airport in Accra from Monday.
However, he encouraged Ghanaians to continue observing enhanced hand hygiene practices and avoid overcrowded places.
Ghana’s daily infection rate has been falling steadily since December 2021.
The West African country has so far recorded 160,925 confirmed Covid cases.
According to Ghana Health service, 13 million people have been vaccinated with one dose of COVID-19 while five million — 16 percent of the population — have been fully vaccinated.
Ghana joins dozens of African countries that have eased most Covid containment measures despite the World Health Organization warning last week that the restrictions were being lifted too soon.
