The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war will have a negative impact on Ghana’s construction industry, as the West African country imports about 60 per cent of her steel and iron ore from the war-torn Eastern European nation, the Bank of Ghana has warned.
At its 105th Monetary Policy Committee meeting this week, the Bank of Ghana said: “The Russia-Ukraine war is likely to impact negatively on Ghana’s external sector, particularly in the area of some key construction and agricultural commodities”.
The Governor of the central bank, Dr Ernest Addison said: “In recent past, an average of about 2.5 per cent of Ghana’s total non-oil imports have originated from Russia and Ukraine and around 0.4 per cent of Ghana’s total exports are destined to Russia and Ukraine”.
The main import items from Russia are grains, wheat flour and fertilisers.
In 2021, around 28.7 per cent of Ghana’s grain imports came from Russia and for the first two months of 2022, grain imports from Russia accounted for 31.2 per cent of the total grain imports, he added.
“And about 50.0 per cent and 39.2 per cent of flour and fertiliser imports respectively, were sourced from Russia in the first two months of this year”, Dr Addison intimidate.
Ghana’s main exports to Russia are cocoa beans and products and they accounted for 0.2 per cent of total cocoa exports, he revealed.
These, he said, “have important implications for the supply and prices of these major items imported from Russia.”
Ghana’s major imports from Ukraine are iron ore and steel, Dr Addison noted, “accounting for over 60 per cent of the total iron ore and steel imports”.
“As a result of this fact, the construction industry will likely face some challenges in terms of supply disruptions and prices of steel and iron ore imports”.
With regard to exports, Dr Addison said “manganese is the major item exported to Ukraine and for the first two months of this year, manganese shipment to Ukraine accounted for around 12 per cent of the total manganese exports”.
“Over the past few years, manganese exports to Ukraine has accounted for over 20 per cent of the total manganese exports”.
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