2.

1 Introduction
Literature review forms a critical aspect of research work which presents a better
understanding of the findings of research in relation to similar research works done. This
review is therefore undertaken relative to other research works on the concept of Covid-19
and its impact on transport and logistics as well as digital infrastructure. Saunders, Lewis and
Thornhill (2000), opined that the literature review forms the overall framework for research,
as it helps to develop a good understanding and also provides valuable insights into relevant
previous research as well as emerging trends in the subject matter under investigation which
is in consonance with this review.

2.6 The Impact of Covid-19 on Transport and Logistics and Digital Infrastructure
The impact of Covid-19 on transport and logistics is presented in this section. It also
discussed the impact of the phenomenon digital infrastructure. It is noticed that the pandemic
has both positive and negative impact on these sectors.

2.6.1 The Impact of Covid-19 on Transport and Logistics

Transport is one of the basic industries, which significantly affects the socio - economic
development and growth in living standard (Jan, 2016). According to Connor (2020) about
90% of the world’s population was subject to international restrictions on travel due to the
presence of Covid-19 global pandemic. The foregoing has resulted in reduction in demand for
transport services both in air, on sea and land. For instance, Africa lost over half of its air
traffic in 2020 which was estimated in monetary terms as a loss of 6 billion dollars in
passenger revenue. Consequently, nearly half of the employees in the sector were laid off
(IATA, 2020). It is further identified by Baker (2020) that transport companies in Africa are
currently operating between 21-30% of their capacity.

In terms of logistics, the virus while creating opportunities to some is also serving as a
challenge to others. The demand for electronic logistics in the last year has increased
drastically. Also, on-demand and delivery sectors as a result of the Covid-19 crisis have seen
growth in last year. Manners-Bell (2020) however identified that there was a fall in demand
for automotive, construction and steel production. Furthermore, the oil and petroleum
distribution across the world declined in the same period. This affected the revenue for
companies in such sectors as they experienced both supply and demand shocks. Barker
(2020) identified that the transport and logistics sector are particularly vulnerable to
economic shocks as in Africa the sector is expecting between 41-50 percent decrease in
revenue.

It should be noted that, the effect of Covid-19 through its restrictions on transport and
logistics had and is still having impact on the economies of the World including Ghana. For
example, the Oxford Economics (2020) explained that the US is expected to experience a
USD 400 billion reduction in travel spending for 2020, representing a loss of USD 900 billion
in economic output. However, is it identified that the impact of the pandemic is more
detrimental to the developing economies especially those in Africa. Also, the resultant effect
of this is the impact on the tourism sector of countries.

2.6.2 The Impact of Covid-19 on Digital Infrastructure

Digital infrastructure over the years has grown to be an integral part of today’s technological
economy. Influenced by the deployment and adoption of the commercial internet in the
1990s, digital infrastructure supports a range of innovative businesses in the sharing economy
(Greenstein, 2020). This involves the use social media, mobile information services,
electronic retailing, and ad-supported media. Banga and te Velde (2020) explained that digital
infrastructure which forms part of digital economy plays a critical role in crisis recovery such
as the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in demand shocks that brought about policies and laws
such as working from home, shifting business online and higher consumption of digitized
leisure goods like video gamming and mobile gamming. The effects of the foregoing on
digital infrastructure according to Banga and te Velde (2020) include increasing demand for
digital connectivity and internet as well as increased demand for ICT enabled services. This
influenced the increase supply of electronic goods like computers and tablets. However, such
shocks are expected to be low in low income economies such as Ghana.

It should be noted that the benefits of digital infrastructure for dealing with the pandemic is
limited to those industries that are well on their way to digital transformation (ITU, 2020).
Despite these positive impact of the pandemic on digital infrastructure, there were some
negative such as decline in revenue for digital media due to social distancing. Again, demand
for internet declined while online labour also reduced. Subsequently, there was the increase
in the use of internet services which translated in increased cost to access these services.

Furthermore, the travel restrictions due the pandemic resulted in the decline of imported ICT
goods which affected the use of digital infrastructure. The possibility of a global push
towards automation and digitalisation by high-income countries in the future has now been
advanced due the Covid-19 pandemic (Seric and Winkler, 2020). This is evidenced in Ghana
as the country is moving towards digitization through the provision of digital infrastructure
while companies are enhancing their use of digital infrastructure. However, the challenge
here is the lack of digital skills to create and add value to digital infrastructure especially in
developing countries such as Ghana.