Introduction 

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognises the essential role that sustainable enterprises will play in the achievement of the set targets. The big question however remains, how will organisations generate business opportunities and value for their stakeholders while keeping a balance between economic, social and environmental development.

Prior to the (COVID-19) pandemic, organisations were working towards the realisation of sustainable enterprises and the creation of decent and productive employment. The disruption has however had far-reaching impact on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) around the world such as reduced production and reduced demand for non-essential goods and services. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that 436 million enterprises worldwide, operate in the four economic sectors hardest hit by the crisis. These are manufacturing, accommodation and food services, wholesale and retail trade, and real estate and business sector activities. Together, these sectors account for more than 30 percent of Gross Domestic Product on average.

Ghana’s progress towards consolidating recent gains for growth and jobs has been halted by the COVID-19 outbreak. The sectors heavily affected include the hotel and hospitality industry, trade and industry, agriculture, health, transportation, manufacturing, real estates, financial and education. Households and businesses have equally been hard hit with significant job losses and reduced incomes.

Ghana in its quest to recover and build back better, has put in place the following building blocks for businesses and the economy; The COVID-19 National Trust Fund, which has so far received GH¢8.75 million and most likely be to be part of the SDG Financing architecture. The Coronavirus Alleviation Programme to mitigate the immediate impact of COVID-19 on business and household and to address the disruption in economic activities.

Objective of the Panel Discussion

The Panel Discussion on Sustainable Enterprises post COIVD-19 aims to:

• Discuss how these short-term measures impact the informal MSME sector and should be linked with longer-term resilience programmes for more sustainable post-COVID-19 recovery.
• Review the lack of regulatory, policy, and legislative structure to reach informal workers making it more challenging for governments to provide relief and restore basic livelihoods.
• The negative impacts of supply-chain disruptions and the resultant ignition of the innovative spirit of local Ghanaian businesses to produce to meet needs that hitherto were imported.
• The role of research in supporting policy responses during the crisis and in the post-crisis period.

A rebirth of the global educational system has been long overdue. With few exceptions, education is typically one of the last industries to make extensive change, utilising dated methods for learning and instruction.

The Covid-19 pandemic has battered educational systems in both developed and developing countries. According to UNICEF, about 1.5 billion students globally — close to 90% of all primary, secondary and tertiary learners — are no longer able to physically go to school. This has accelerated the educational revolution that began with the rise of education technology and digital transformation. Now, there are rapid, drastic changes to teaching, assessment, and even the make-up of classrooms.

The pandemic has also underscored how crucial it is for our populations to be digitally literate. In a world of social distancing, greater digitalization of services and digitally-centered communications are becoming the norm.

According to market intelligence firm HolonIQ, the higher education market is globally estimated at $2.2 Trillion (2019) and is projected to increase to $2.5 Trillion by 2025. The online degree 2 higher learning segment is only a small fraction – circa 2 % ($36 billion) – of the entire market . With universities and other education institutions forced to bring courses online, this market is ripe for disruption. Students’ appetites for online studies will likely continue to grow post COVID-19.

Despite the disruptions brought on by Covid-19, many new learnings, new perspectives, new trends to educational delivery, driven mainly by technology, continue to emerge. The Advanced Micro-Electronics, Inc. has identified 6 tech trends that will impact education delivery. These include; Cloud Computing, Virtual Reality (VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning, 3D Printing,Biometric Reading, Social Media. Widespread access to the Internet and competition among technology firms have accelerated technology innovations in the education sector. Hardware companies are producing devices customized to meet specific education needs. Ideas spread fast and people are able to research and tailor methods for specific uses in education delivery. The future of education certainly looks bright!

This discussion will focus on

• Facilitating Changes in Teaching and Learning Through Digitalisation.
• Building Resilient Education Systems for Equitable Development. 

• Mobilising Financing for Education During and Post Covid-19. 
 

Introduction

Private sector involvement in humanitarian and health crises is not a new phenomenon. However, the impact of COVID-19 is on a much larger scale as compared to previous outbreaks and also not geographically isolated. This calls for a response that places public-private cooperation at its very core. Mitigating the worst effects of the pandemic can only be broken if the traditional way of working in silos is eliminated and Partnerships are forged.

Ghana’s economic development strategy recognises the private sector as the engine of growth. “The Business Tracker Survey conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), shows that COVID-19 has had a deep impact on Ghana’s private sector as firms are experiencing lower demand for their products, difficulties in accessing finance and sourcing inputs, and face an extended period of uncertainty. In spite of all this, the private sector has been able to help Government mobilise critical support from the business community by setting-up the Ghana COVID-19 Private Sector in Fund to provide critical interventions to Ghanaians.

Government in its bid to lessen the impact of the pandemic on businesses put into effect the following tax mitigating measures:

• Extension of due dates for filling of tax returns from the standard four months to six months after end of the basis year; Grant of waiver of penalties on principal tax liabilities owed by taxpayers who redeem their outstanding liabilities by 30 June 2020.
• Waiver of VAT on donations of stock of equipment and goods for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Waiver of taxes on selected withdrawals from third-tier pension funds;
• Grant of deduction against income tax for private sector contributions and donations made toward addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• Institution of an email filing and direct transfer payment system to allow taxpayers file and pay taxes with the various Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) offices remotely.

Covid-19 disruption presents an unprecedented, large-scale opportunity as well as an enormous responsibility to improve global business value chains from sourcing to harvesting, production to retail. Companies are repurposing their factories and leveraging on their comparative advantages and resources to help plug gaps in themedical supply chain. These opportunities position’s the private sector in a strategic role to shape the recovery process in a sustainable and equitable manner.

Objective of the Panel Discussion

• The panel discussion on a Private Sector led COVID recovery scenario aims to discuss.
• Leveraging digital technologies to enable businesses adapt and innovate Post COVID.
• How the Private Sector is contributing to the Pandemic-Recovery Financing? 
• Creating synergies between Public and Private Sector for future pandemics.
• Innovative ways to build partnerships beyond COVID-19.

The future of work is already here. Globalization, shifts in demography, rapidly changing technological advancement and innovations, climate change, geopolitical tensions and other mega-trends are having an unprecedented impact on jobs, skills and the employment landscape.

On one hand, technology and innovation create new and exciting opportunities for businesses to enhance productivity and improve performance by reducing errors, improving quality and speed, and in some cases, achieving outcomes that go beyond human capabilities. On the other hand, there is growing concern for governments, businesses and people, about the anticipated job losses resulting from automation and other changes brought by artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and autonomous systems, as cognitive abilities and tasks once thought to be reserved for humans are increasingly being carried out by machines. The Covid-19 pandemic, initially thought of as a global health pandemic has swiftly metamorphosed into a social, economic and security crisis, leaving no country unscathed. As at March 2020, one third of humanity was under “lockdown.” By the end of April, nearly 1.6 billion workers were on the brink of losing their livelihood.

Undoubtedly, the pandemic has reset major work trends, becoming virtual, remote and global, rather than physical and local. Estimates suggest that as at early April, 2020, 62 percent of employed Americans worked from home during the crisis, compared with about 25 percent just a couple of years ago.

It is pretty obvious that the pandemic has accelerated the shift towards digitization. Technology for videoconferencing and other forms of collaboration have been quickly deployed by organizations and embraced by the workforce. Remote teams and virtual meetings are taking centre stage. Also, long held assumptions about how work should be conducted and the role of the office space are being questioned.

What would the future of work look like after Covid-19? How do current employees position themselves in relevance to embrace this new normal?

According to Alex Sixt, a tech Entrepreneur, there are four things that will remain after Covid- 19.

• Remote working will likely become the norm for many businesses globally.
• Digital transformation will be accelerated. The role of technology will likely become even more important, as the future of work evolves. Employers and employees will need to adopt a digital mind-set to survive in the post Covid-19 world.
• Millennial takeover because they are tech-savvy and possess the ability to work remotely and flexibly, ready to adapt to a new way of work.
• A scalable workforce who are flexible enough to accommodate changes in the workplace and financial conditions that businesses will encounter in the future. The ability to reskill and upskill in this rapidly changing world is not only a necessity but an economic imperative.

This session will seek to examine

• How COVID-19 has impact the world of work.
• What the challenges of digitation transformation are and how we can address them.
• What the future looks like for the millions of people in the informal economy and how they can transition/be incorporated into the digital economy.
• The modifications that need to take place in the educational sector to ensure an adequately prepared workforce for the changing world of work.
• What is likely to happen to physical workplaces with the current shift to virtual workspaces.