Release of the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for Ghana

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is co-hosting the release of the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for Ghana under the Nexus Project in partnership with the Ghana Statistical Service and the Institute for Statistical, Social and Economic Research.

The Nexus Project is a collaboration between IFPRI and its partners, including national statistical agencies (Ghana Statistical Service) and research institutions (Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research). Our aim is to improve the quality of social accounting matrices (SAMs) used for computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling. The Nexus Project develops toolkits and establishes common data standards, procedures, and classification systems for constructing and updating national SAMs. The 2019 Ghana SAM follows the Standard Nexus Structure. The open access version of the Ghana SAM separates domestic production into 42 activities. Factors are disaggregated into labor, land, and capital. Labor is further disaggregated across three education categories. Representative households are disaggregated by rural and urban areas and by per capita expenditure quintile. The remaining accounts include enterprises, government, taxes, savings-and-investment, and the rest of the world.

The release of the Social Accounting Matrix for Ghana aims to allow policy analysts to better inform policy decision-making in Ghana especially as the country experiences multiple challenges.

IFPRI Participants

• Kwaw Andam, Country Program Leader / Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI
• Seth Asante, Senior Research Officer, IFPRI