Fragmented government data systems have slowed policymaking and limited Ghana’s ability to fully use information already produced by public institutions, Government Statistician Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu said as the country moved to overhaul how official statistics are coordinated.
The Ghana Statistical Service today, signed memoranda of understanding with 25 ministries, departments and agencies aimed at strengthening data governance and improving how administrative data is shared across government.
Speaking at the signing ceremony in Accra, Dr. Iddrisu said large volumes of information generated daily across public institutions often remain scattered in separate systems, making it harder for policymakers to obtain a complete picture of national development trends.
“For many years, much of this information has remained fragmented across institutions and stored in different systems,” he said. “The result is that the country sometimes has data, but not always the complete picture.”
The agreements establish protocols for what datasets will be shared, how they will be transmitted and the timelines for exchanges between participating institutions and the statistical agency. They also designate focal persons within ministries and introduce technical standards to ensure data quality and interoperability.
The initiative is anchored in the Statistical Service Act, 2019 (Act 1003), which mandates the statistical service to coordinate Ghana’s National Statistical System and facilitate the sharing of administrative data while protecting confidentiality.
Alongside the MoUs, the agency is introducing new frameworks including a Data Quality Assurance Framework, a Code of Ethics and Practice for official statistics, and the third National Strategy for the Development of Statistics. These measures aim to standardize how data is produced and used across public institutions.
The statistical service said implementation will begin immediately, including finalizing data-sharing policies and strengthening statistical units across ministries and agencies. Seventeen institutions have already drafted policies that will be refined and published to improve transparency and responsible data use.
DR. Iddrisu said stronger coordination across government datasets should ultimately lead to faster and more informed decision making, better allocation of public resources and improved development outcomes.
Senior government officials present included Chief of Staff Julius Debrah, Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Nyarko Ampem representing the finance minister, Head of Civil Service Evans Aggrey-Darko and United Nations Resident Coordinator Zia Choudhury.
Institutions participating in the agreements include agencies responsible for key administrative datasets such as the Ghana Health Service, Ghana Police Service, Ghana Immigration Service, Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana), National Communications Authority (Ghana) and National Disaster Management Organisation.
