The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) launched a project on Thursday to enumerate all business establishments in the country to support their growth for effective contribution to the economy.
The Integrated Business Establishment Survey (IBES) is being implemented by the GSS, the Association of Ghana Industries, and the World Bank Group.
The first phase of the IBES survey (IBES I) will enumerate businesses across all sectors of the economy and produce an updated statistical business register, while generating important data for prudent business decisions and ultimately aiding national development.
When completed, the data will also provide an updated picture of the current structure of the Ghanaian economy to facilitate the revision of the basis of key macroeconomic indicators: including Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Producer Price Index (PPI) and the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
Launching the project Government Statistician, Samuel Annim, said the IBES2024 data collection would employ digital tools from Monday January 15, to assess the number of businesses in the country in their various categories to ensure effective supervision and support.
“IBES I will provide data on the activities of businesses to inform policy, planning and monitoring for business growth and national development,” Annim said.
He said the survey would also identify programmes and employment status of workers employed by businesses to help bridge the gap between the labour needs of firms and available skills in Ghana, characteristics of the informal sector to guide development of policies aimed at formalising the economy and improving workers’ welfare in the various sectors.
The government statistician added that data collection would be technology-intensive to capture information of businesses running online as well.
“There is the urgent need to have a better understanding of the economy, to enable us to have a register that helps formalise the economy,” he added.
Annim added that 11, 588 enumerators would carry out the survey under 2,521 supervisors across the country.
The National Project Coordinator for IBES, Anthony Krakah, said intensive preparations, including the training of enumerators and their supervisors were done in 2023, “and the personnel are ready to do a thorough job during the exercise.”
Krakah urged all stakeholders across the country to cooperate with the enumerators during the exercise to ensure the success of IBES I.