Governor’s Speech at University of Ghana Alumni Lecture, Great Hall, University of Ghana

PANDEMIC, THE ECONOMY AND OUTLOOK

UNIVERSITY OF GHANA ALUMNI LECTURE VENUE: GREAT HALL, UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

DR. ERNEST ADDISON,

GOVERNOR, BANK OF GHANA

DATE: DECEMBER 17, 2020

Pandemic, The Economy and Outlook

Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana,

President of the Alumni Association,

Fellow Alumni of the University of Ghana,

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

Introduction

1. It is a privilege to join you today to deliver this year's Alumni Lecture. Coming back to this great institution has brought back fond memories of my days on the Legon Campus over three decades ago, shuffling between Mensah Sarbah Hall Annex A and the Economics Department. I sincerely thank the Alumni Association for the kind invitation and to join the list of distinguished speakers of the University of Ghana Alumni lecture series.
2. Ladies and Gentlemen, when I received the invitation to deliver this year's alumni lecture, the first thing that came to my mind was the

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devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global economy, how that will transmit to the Ghanaian economy and the enormous challenges to public policy, including macroeconomic management. Since the inception of the pandemic, policies have been crafted and extraordinary measures imposed to contain its spread and manage the human, economic and social consequences.

3. This single event, which probably happens once in a lifetime, has caused some fundamental shifts in the global economy and disrupted social and cultural norms. We no longer greet each other warmly and are continuously masked up as if we are at a masquerade party. This has become the new normal. In some circles, the Covid-19 pandemic has been described as a tail event or black swan event. Such events rarely happen and when they do, they rest within the tail end of a probability distribution. Indeed, 2020 has turned out as exceptional and will surely leave an indelible mark on our thinking for years to come.

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4. As grim as it sounds, Covid-19 is not the first pandemic to hit the human race. Throughout history there have been several pandemics, with some arguably much worse than Covid-19 in terms of the number of people who succumbed to the disease. Let me highlight a few of these, starting with

• The Antonine Plague (165 AD-180 AD) which was also known as the Plague of Galen and killed over 2,000 people per day at the height of that pandemic;
• The Black Death (1347-1352)which swept through Europe and Asia among other continents, and killed an estimated 25 million people;
• The Small Pox Pandemic (1870-1874)which spread from Europe to Asia through America, causing 500,000 deaths worldwide.
• Cholera (1817-1824) which emerged in India in 1817 and reached different countries in Asia, Europe and Eastern Africa,

also killing more than 100 thousand people;

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