The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), as part of its commitment to obtaining accurate and up-to-date economic data, has trained over 555 enumerators, and out of that number, 507 will be selected for the upcoming 2024 Integrated Business Establishment Survey (IBES I) in the Upper East Region.
The training, which was held at the Bolgatanga Senior Secondary School, was conducted by experts from the GSS and aimed to equip the enumerators with the necessary skills to effectively carry out the survey, ensuring the collection of comprehensive and reliable data from businesses across the region.
Bawa Abdul-Kadir, the Upper East Regional Statistician, disclosed that the nationwide exercise which is expected to start on 15th January will last for 30 days.
“This exercise has two phases. The first phase is to count all businesses in Ghana and compile a business register from which we will select a sample that will constitute the second phase, where we will go into detail about asking business owners what they do,” he said.
He highlighted the importance of the exercise, saying the survey is to drive evidence-based decision-making for the government and private institutions for policy purposes. The Regional Statistician stated emphatically that the purpose of the data collection has nothing to do with tax collection.
“This data we are collecting has nothing to do with tax collection at all. It is purely for planning purposes. So, we are urging all and sundry to cooperate for the benefit of Mother Ghana. When the field officers visit their business premises, they should just cooperate and provide the information requested,” he appealed while speaking to the media.
Richard Atsu Kuadamah, the Regional Lead for the exercise in the Upper East region, said the region has been demarcated into enumeration areas to ensure all corners of the region are covered.
“Aside from the enumerators’ work, we have supervisors overseeing them to ensure proper work. We also have Data Quality Monitors that review the data generated from the field. If there are data errors, the enumerators are referred back to the field to ensure they collect accurate information. The system ensures no possibility of cooking data,” he said.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Joshua Asaah|Ghana
