Drivers of Banks’ Financial Performance

A significant number of banks folded up during the Ghanaian banking financial crisis of 2017 to 2018 causing significant social costs as well as impeding economic growth. We take a step backward to present the significant drivers of the profitability of banks in Ghana. Obtaining panel data from the banks’ websites, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), and the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), the regression analysis was used to assess the drivers of profitability of banks in Ghana. The findings show that the bank-specific variables had no combined effect on profitability. Hence, the study concludes that the bank-specific variables do not have a significant influence on the performance of the Ghanaian listed banks. On the other hand, some of the external factors were observed to have a significant influence on profitability. The findings further showed that the drivers of profitability of the Ghanaian banks were, inflation, capital adequacy, and monetary policy. Since these are all external factors, the banks must learn how to predict and anticipate the external factors and make adjustments in their operations to enable them to improve profitability. While this study recommends to the managers of Ghanaian banks to be cautious in their operational decisions, the economy must also be managed soundly to ensure the growth of banks and hopefully avoid future crises

Impact of Petroleum Energy Price Volatility on Commodity Prices in Ghana

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the relationship between petroleum energy volatility and commodity prices in Ghana, which are indexed (energy grains, meat, and cooking oil), as well as to provide an empirical specification of the impact's direction. With reference to time series literature, the paper examined energy and commodity price connection models such as augmented dickey fuller, granger causality, co-integration, vector autoregressive and the vector error correction models used in estimating the association among petroleum energy volatility and the three selected commodity variables. The paper found that, there is a long run relationship between petroleum energy volatility and commodity prices in Ghana from 2011 to 2022. A single equation error correction model suggested that, petroleum energy shocks increase prices of grains, meat and cooking oil in both the short and long run. Impulse response function and variance decomposition conducted on the variables also suggested that there is both short and long run association between the variables

The Consequences of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Ghanaian Financial Markets and the Effectiveness of Government Policy Responses

This study analysed the consequences of COVID-19 on Ghanaian financial markets and further profiled and assessed the effectiveness of government policy interventions to contain its incidence. Using a qualitative documentary analytic approach combined with available time series data from financial market regulators between 2015 and 2021, empirical evidence shows that key profitability (ROA and ROE) measures of banks, gross insurance premium and capital market indicators were negatively affected. The containment and stringency of government policies in the wake of the pandemic do not match in equal potency with the rise in occurrences. Policy recommendations were provided

UK ethnic minority healthcare workers’ perspectives on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the UK ethnic minority community: A qualitative study

Background: The experiences of UK ethnic minority (UKEM) healthcare workers are crucial to ameliorating the disproportionate COVID-19 infection rate and outcomes in the UKEM community. We conducted a qualitative study on UKEM healthcare workers’ perspectives on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy (CVH) in the UKEM community. Methods: Participants were 15 UKEM healthcare workers (11 females; age range: 26–58 [43.3 ± 9.4] years). Data were collected using individual and joint interviews, and a focus group, and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: We generated three themes: heterogeneity (two subthemes), mistrust (six subthemes), and mitigating (six subthemes). Therein, participants distinguished CVH in the UKEM community in educational attainment and ethnicity. They pointed to the role of mistrust in CVH in the UKEM community. They opined that the mistrust underlying CVH in the UKEM community is rooted in history and religion, conspiracy theories, the speedy development and novelty of the vaccines, post-vaccination complications/side effects, false positive test results, and social media and social support/influence. Participants recommended that interventions targeted at mitigating CVH in the UKEM community need to, in a non-judgmental way, tackle dis/misinformation and provide education, and incorporate UKEM healthcare worker endorsement. They also suggested such interventions be community-oriented, enhance the convenience of vaccination centers and the possibility of vaccine choice, and appreciate that overcoming CVH and accepting vaccination is a gradual process involving personal assessment of risks and benefits. Conclusion: CVH in the UKEM community is a multifaceted phenomenon requiring multicomponent interventions

UK ethnic minority healthcare workers’ perspectives on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the UK ethnic minority community: A qualitative study

Background: The experiences of UK ethnic minority (UKEM) healthcare workers are crucial to ameliorating the disproportionate COVID-19 infection rate and outcomes in the UKEM community. We conducted a qualitative study on UKEM healthcare workers’ perspectives on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy (CVH) in the UKEM community. Methods: Participants were 15 UKEM healthcare workers (11 females; age range: 26–58 [43.3 ± 9.4] years). Data were collected using individual and joint interviews, and a focus group, and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: We generated three themes: heterogeneity (two subthemes), mistrust (six subthemes), and mitigating (six subthemes). Therein, participants distinguished CVH in the UKEM community in educational attainment and ethnicity. They pointed to the role of mistrust in CVH in the UKEM community. They opined that the mistrust underlying CVH in the UKEM community is rooted in history and religion, conspiracy theories, the speedy development and novelty of the vaccines, post-vaccination complications/side effects, false positive test results, and social media and social support/influence. Participants recommended that interventions targeted at mitigating CVH in the UKEM community need to, in a non-judgmental way, tackle dis/misinformation and provide education, and incorporate UKEM healthcare worker endorsement. They also suggested such interventions be community-oriented, enhance the convenience of vaccination centers and the possibility of vaccine choice, and appreciate that overcoming CVH and accepting vaccination is a gradual process involving personal assessment of risks and benefits. Conclusion: CVH in the UKEM community is a multifaceted phenomenon requiring multicomponent interventions