Economic Census in Ghana
The conduct of economic census is not new in Ghana. The first two economic censuses conducted, known as National Industrial Census took place in 1987 and 2003.
The name changed to Integrated Business Establishment Survey (IBES) in 2013 when the third exercise took place.
Fast forward to 2023 IBES will comprehensively look at three (3) key sectors of the economy namely: Agriculture, Industry and Services. Notably this includes businesses in unconventional structures such as those in open spaces and mobile ventures.
Theme for the 2023 IBES
The theme for this year’s exercise is: “2023 IBES, Data for Prudent Business Decisions”
A jingle sighted on social media spells out the relevance and modalities for the exercise.
Listen below:
Training and Recruitment for 2023 IBES
Currently the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) which is mandated by law to undertake periodic censuses for the nation is conducting series of rigorous online and face-to-face Trainings for Field Officers.
Field Officers are being taken through the various items in the questionnaire as well as professional interviewing skills in order to properly administer the questionnaire.
The categories of persons engaged are District Supervisors, Enumerators, District IT Support Officers, Data Quality Monitors and other National, Regional and District Staff.
Approaches to Enumerating Establishments
Enumerators are being trained to give respondents the opportunity to choose from any of the following forms of questionnaire to be used for the exercise:
- Questionnaire drop off and pickup
- Direct interview using Questionnaire from tablet (CAPI)
- Telephone interview
- Online questionnaire
Training will soon end for actual fieldwork to begin in January, 2024.
Although the actual exercise will happen in the early part of 2024, the survey will still be dubbed the 2023 IBES.
The main objective of the census is to obtain data on economic activity and employment as a basis for government and businesses decision making.
Among other things, the IBES will measure employment by economic activity, region, and district.
Field Officers will be collecting internationally comparable data on the structures and activities of all businesses.
This will help to provide indicators to measure firm growth in-country and across the country using the SDG and other indicators.
The 2023 IBES has introduced some great new features that makes it more unique compared to all previous national census
The Ghana Statistical Service is asking all persons within the country to support the Service to provide Ghana with the right data for business growth and national development.
