An Oxford Business Group (OBG) survey of C-suite business executives has revealed that approximately 25 percent of businesses are optimistic that revenues from in-country operations would increase over the next 12 months.
According to the survey, 40 percent of the respondents expected returns to be steady, whiles 65 percent of respondents forecasted a rise in their capital expenditure increasing over the same period and only 11 percent anticipated a decrease of any magnitude.
The survey which was conducted in September 2020 showed that most companies had returned to work after the partial lock down was lifted; approximately 63 percent of companies had already commenced operations at or above 60 percent capacity, 79 percent of business leaders were expectant that their company would operate above those levels by January 2021.
The proportion of those who indicated that their company would be fully operational by January 2021 was 33 percent, significantly higher than the 9 percent operating at full capacity in September.
Recall that during the partial lockdown, businesses had to close down for a while. For those businesses which were largely involved in the provision of in-person services, quite a number of them began fully utilizing digital platforms to run their operations and those who did not anticipate the advantage of going digital also lost significant number of customers.
According to Yvette Adounvo Atekpe, the regional managing director of digital services provider Dimension Data, “there was a significant rise in the number of clients requesting services in Ghana since the outbreak of COVID-19.”
“There was a particularly large increase in demand for reliable and secure connections from the financial sector, where ensuring business continuity meant having safe and fast internet connection for the staff working from home.”
“Other segments where internet usage saw a spike included the health sector, as many telehealth services were rolled out during the lockdown, and in education, as students and teachers turned to remote learning.”
The aftermath of the lockdown impacted on revenue generation in comparison to previous years, as people’s tastes and preferences were changing, people’s purchasing power also declined significantly (due to loss of jobs).
However, business growth started picking up slowly when the restrictions were eased and businesses which remained quite resilient opened operations again. Yet, keeping physical distancing and social distancing rules still remain in force.
Nevertheless, “business executives are eager to return to business as usual, the period of lockdown and social distancing has made remote work a part of the “new normal” for a large proportion of firms.”
According to the survey, “Only 19 percent responded that remote work would not be part of a company policy post-pandemic, with 59 percent aiming for at least one day per week of remote work for their staff.”
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