Ghana is developing its first Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development Index to provide reliable data on business performance, identify financing gaps and help direct investment towards enterprises with the greatest potential for growth.
The initiative, known as the DBG-GSS MSMEs Development Index (MDex), is a partnership between the Development Bank Ghana (DBG) and the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), aimed at addressing the lack of regular and comprehensive data on the performance of the country’s MSME sector.
The index is expected to strengthen lending decisions, improve the targeting of business support programmes and provide policymakers with evidence to address constraints affecting productivity, competitiveness and job creation.
A statement issued in Accra said more than 100 enumerators had been trained to conduct a nationwide survey covering more than 5,000 businesses across all 16 regions between October and November 2026.
The training is designed to equip the enumerators with the skills to administer the survey instruments in line with internationally recognised statistical standards and quality assurance protocols.
The statement said recruiting enumerators from different parts of the country would ensure that interviews were conducted by field officers familiar with local languages and business conditions.
Ghana has approximately 1.9 million business establishments, nearly 90% of which employ fewer than five people, according to the Ghana Statistical Service’s 2024 Integrated Business Establishment Survey.
Despite their significant contribution to employment and economic activity, the country has lacked a recurring composite measure to assess the performance, productivity and growth prospects of MSMEs.
The DBG-GSS MDex is expected to address that gap by assessing businesses across eight dimensions, including profitability, productivity and growth; business environment; innovation and digitisation; resilience and financial access; sustainability and green transition; inclusive and social impact; governance and formalisation; and productive capacity and resources.
By combining information from business owners with objective indicators, the index will provide insights into financing needs, operational constraints and growth potential while tracking changes in business performance over time.
The data will also help financial institutions assess the risks and opportunities within the MSME market, potentially improving their ability to design financing products that respond to the needs of smaller businesses.
Professor Eric Osei-Assibey, Chief Economist of DBG, who launched the initiative in October on behalf of the Bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Professor Randolph Nsor-Ambala, said credible evidence was essential to effective development financing.
“Development finance is most effective when it is guided by credible evidence. The DBG-GSS MDex is not only a research product; it is a national public good,” he said.
He said the index would help the country understand which MSMEs were expanding, where productivity was improving, the constraints holding businesses back and how financing and policy interventions could be better targeted.
Through the partnership, he said, DBG was investing in the knowledge infrastructure needed to reduce lending risks, strengthen the market intelligence of its Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) and attract more financing to productive enterprises.
He said the initiative also reinforced the Bank’s mandate to expand access to long-term financing as it marked its fifth anniversary.
Alhaji Omar Seidu, Deputy Government Statistician, said reliable and timely data were critical to business growth and economic development.
“When data accurately reflects the realities of businesses, it becomes a powerful tool for transformation. The DBG MSME Performance Index Survey is an investment in evidence, and evidence is essential for expanding access to finance, improving business performance, and accelerating Ghana’s economic progress,” he said.
Under the partnership, DBG will provide strategic leadership, funding and stakeholder coordination, while the GSS will oversee survey design, data collection, analysis and reporting in accordance with national and international statistical standards.
The inaugural DBG-GSS MDex report is expected by the end of January 2027, with both institutions planning annual updates to support policymaking, financing decisions and targeted business development interventions.
