Commodity exporter’s vulnerabilities in times of COVID-19: the case of Ghana

Abstract

The measures put into place to mitigate the COVID-19 health crisis around the world have disrupted global supply chains and sent commodity prices tumbling. We argue that, while the nature of the COVID-19 crisis is unprecedented, the unfolding consequences for primary commodity export-dependent economies are not. By developing a state-centred adaptive supply chain resilience framework and drawing on past experiences, we identify three impact channels that are specific to commodity exporters: a price, a supply chain and a financial channel. Taking Ghana as a case study, we show how the interplay of these three channels can be particularly damaging.