By Edzorna Francis Mensah
The Ghana Statistical Service has inaugurated the National Steering Committee of the 2023 Ghana Integrated Business Establishment Survey (IBES) on Friday 30th June 30, 2023 in Accra.
The 2023 IBES will be the fourth conducted in Ghana, with the objectives to build an updated online business register, update the categorization of businesses, and profile the distribution of businesses by their firmographics.
The other objectives are to access the worth of businesses and determine changes in the structure of businesses over time.
Phase I of the 2023 Ghana Integrated Business Establishment Survey (IBES I) is an economic census that will enumerate all businesses across all sectors of the Ghanaian economy.
Phase I will be followed by a survey of selected businesses.
At the inauguration ceremony, the Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim made a presentation on the Rationale and Implementation of the Ghana 2023 IBES 1 which featured information on what is new in the 2023 IBES such as the expanded scope to include businesses not in structures, collection of geospatial data, automation of data collection processes, and the addition of new modules on digital finance and environmental responsiveness.
The presentation also highlighted 15 key areas on the policy relevance of business data for Ghana’s development broadly grouped under the following categories (1) data on the characteristics of Ghanaian businesses, (2) business-centered support, (3) understanding business performance and growth, (4) business data analytics and (5) benchmarks for economic indicators.
The National Steering Committee (NSC) will provide strategic guidance and general oversight of IBES and monitor activities to ensure successful implementation.
The committee will also assist in the mobilization of additional resources for the survey as needed.
It comprises institutional representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ghana Statistical Service, Ghana Revenue Authority, National Identification Authority, National Development Planning Commission, Ghana Enterprise Agency, Association of Ghana Industries, Ghana Union of Traders Association, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, and World Bank.
In her inaugural speech, the Deputy of Finance, Abena Osei Asare, charged the committee members to collaborate to produce the needed data that will inform new policies.
She was happy that this time the focus is not going to be on industries with structures but on informal sector businesses which ” I believe will help the government with data for policy formation on developmental issues”.
