A delegation from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) led by the Government Statistician, Professor Kobina Annim is visiting Denmark on a study trip, from August 17-22, 2019 as part of the Strategic Sector Cooperation programme between Statistics Denmark and Ghana Statistical Services.

The purpose of the trip, according to a statement issued by the GSS, is to exchange knowledge with experts in Statistics Denmark and explore best practices in statistics management.

The visit will enable the two Statistical institutions exchange ideas on how to collect and process accurate statistics for decision-making and dissemination, the statement said

It added that officials from other key institutions also involved in collecting data in Ghana – the Births and Deaths Registry, the National Identification Authority, the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Immigration Service, are also part of the delegation.

The cooperation between the Ghana Statistical Service and Statistics Denmark commenced on 01 February 2019. So far, there has been a few missions by Statistics Denmark to provide support to the Ghana Statistical Service with the rebasing of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Automatic transfer of data from Births and Deaths registry to Ghana Statistical Service.

Statistics Denmark is also and exploring how best to assist the Ghana Revenue Authority with the development of a national price valuation database.

This Strategic Sector Cooperation on Statistics seeks, among others to: Promote inclusive and sustainable growth and development in Ghana by supporting conducive framework conditions for the fulfilment of prioritised SDGs

Bring Danish technical experience and assistance and state-of-the-art statistical solutions to solving development challenges in Ghana.

Strengthen the official statistics in Ghana with a specific focus on the increased use of administrative data in the production of statistics especially the National head count instead of house-to-house population census that requires huge logistics and funds.

During the study visit, delegates from Ghana will have first-hand information on best practices on how to generate accurate data to aid decision making. Specific issues to be discussed include: using administrative data for population statistics, database infrastructure and data security, business register, among others.

At a pre-departure meeting hosted by Ambassador Tove Degnbol, she said “We expect this collaboration to be of mutual benefit for Denmark and Ghana. Exchange of knowledge and experience will generate mutual inspiration and is likely to yield significant results. This is what we have seen in other sectors such as the maritime sector and the water sector, and we are confident that we will see the same with this collaboration”.

Government Statistician Prof Kobina Annim on his part expressed that “The aims of the collaboration between Ghana Statistical Service and Statistics Denmark are the landmark transition to reliance on administrative sources of data to complement the use of surveys and censuses in the production of statistics and the provision of a benchmarking mechanism for quality-assuring the production of key economic statistics. This trip envisions finalising the modes of engagement for the three-year life span of the collaboration to ensure the achievement of the set targets”.

Statistics Denmark is the central authority on Danish Statistics, responsible for collecting, compiling and publishing statistics on the Danish society. Statistics Denmark participates actively in international statistical cooperation and has the ambition to make an impact on the improvement of international statistical cooperation.