Ghana is moving to address years of fragmented government data systems as the Ghana Statistical Service has signed agreements with 25 ministries, departments, and agencies to integrate administrative data for national planning and development.

The initiative is expected to strengthen coordination across the public sector and improve the use of government data in policy formulation and national development strategies.

Government Statistician Alhassan Iddrisu, during the singing ceremony on Thursday, March 12, 20256, described the move as a major transformation in the country’s data management framework.

“This marks a shift from fragmented data systems to connected data systems, a shift from institutional silos to institutional collaboration,” he said at the signing ceremony.

Dr. Iddrisu explained that significant volumes of administrative data are generated daily across sectors such as health, education, security and infrastructure, but these datasets have often been produced under different standards and remained difficult to access for policymaking.

“Without a complete picture, policy making becomes slower, coordination becomes difficult, and opportunities for national progress are sometimes missed,” he noted.

According to him, the memoranda of understanding signed with the institutions will establish clear arrangements for coordinating and sharing data across government entities so the information can be converted into high-quality official statistics.

“These MOUs move us from good intentions to intentional action… ensuring that administrative data produced across government can be better coordinated, quality assured and responsibly shared for national development,” he said.

Dr. Iddrisu added that the initiative operationalises the mandate of the Statistics Act, 2019 (Act 1003), which empowers the Ghana Statistical Service to coordinate the country’s national statistical system.

“When data is timely, when data is harmonized and credible, policies become smarter, public resources are used more efficiently, and accountability becomes stronger,” he stated.

He emphasised that stronger collaboration among the 25 institutions—described as the country’s “data backbone”—would help transform administrative data into a national development asset.

“Together, these institutions generate some of the most important administrative data in Ghana. By working together, we can transform these datasets into a powerful national asset for development,” he added.