This was disclosed today by the 2023 IBES Coordinator, Mr. Anthony Krakah at a consultative meeting with stakeholders in Accra.

Phase I of the 2023 Ghana Integrated Business Establishment Survey (IBES I) is an economic census that will enumerate all businesses in October 2023. Phase I will be followed by Phase II, a survey of selected businesses in 2024. 

The objectives of IBES include building an updated online business register and profiling the distribution of businesses by their firmographics.

The meeting held today in Accra was chaired by Mr. Raphael Ayittey, Treasurer and National Executive Council Member of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI).

He complimented the Board and Management of GSS for leading the conduct of the 2023 IBES and for the inclusive scope of the exercise. 

He urged that all businesses should endeavour to be counted stating “everybody is included, and we need that information to arrive at the desired destination.” 

He noted that the business register derived from IBES will help businesses to streamline processes and know competitors.

It would also help the government develop targeted policies and urged policymakers to make effective use of the business register. 

He encouraged all businesses to cooperate with enumerators stating that “we have a shared responsibility as businesspeople to volunteer information on our businesses to help keep the business register as current as possible.” 

He also added that “government can only develop policies to promote the private sector only with credible and comprehensive data that reflects the business population”. 

The Government Statistician, Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, gave the welcome remarks and expressed his appreciation to the stakeholders in attendance noting that 60 unique umbrella organisations had invited for the meeting which would also be held in the middle and northern belts of the country.

He noted that GSS in the last decade has worked towards identifying areas that need attention to drive national transformation. 

In the area of business, “the IBES I would focus on helping businesses escape the informality trap while the IBES II would include questions to identify pandemic-induced challenges that businesses face. 

Prof. Annim noted that "in line with the Sustainable Development Goal’s aim to leave no one behind, the Ghana 2023 IBES is going out there to count all businesses in the country". 

He also touched on some highlights from the 2022 Trade Vulnerability Report released the previous day, which pointed to the need for strengthening the relationship between GSS and the private sector. 

He concluded with information that the day coincided with the release of the monthly Producer Price Index (PPI) and shared the importance of the 2023 IBES for PPI: “the census that we are going to do is what will form the basis for the sample of businesses that would be followed on monthly basis for the collection of data for PPI”.

The 2023 IBES Coordinator, Mr. Anthony Krakah, made a presentation on the 2023 IBES Phase I which covered the history of economic censuses in Ghana, the objectives of the survey, the policy relevance of the IBES data, the benefits of the exercise and the key dates for implementation. 

Following his presentation, there was a discussion by all participants on the role of stakeholders in a successful conduct of the exercise.