A new data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has revealed that about 57.1% of persons who hawk goods and services earn about GH¢100 or less per day.

According to the 2024 Integrated Business and Establishment Survey (IBES I), one out of three of businesses that operate in fixed locations but not within a structure also earn about GH¢100 or less, highlighting a similar revenue pattern.

The businesses surveyed were categorised into two: Open Space Business, defined as those operating in fixed locations without permanent structures. On the other hand, a mobile business refers to an enterprise that operates without a fixed location through methods such as head porterage, hawking, or the use of motorised and non-motorised vehicles.

Open Space Businesses

This type of business constitutes about 700,000 businesses and engages approximately 922,000 individuals nationwide.

“A significant 68.4% of these businesses are involved in the sale of food and beverages”, the report noted.

The sector showcases strong female entrepreneurship with women owning 84.0% of these businesses, comprising nearly 80% of the total workforce.

On local content, about “99.2% of these establishments are owned by Ghanaian citizens.” It added.

According to GSS, these businesses are dotted across the country, but heavily concentrated in the Greater Accra (23.5%) and Ashanti (17.1%) regions, with the Eastern and Bono East regions seeing the longest-running business operations.

Also, more than 60% of these businesses operate at least six days a week, and half of all operators work more than 49 hours weekly, highlighting the labour-intensive nature of these businesses. However, over 56% of operators in this category who work between nine and 12 hours daily are able to accrue more than GH₵ 10,000 per day. 

Mobile Businesses

According to the survey, 82,920 mobile businesses were identified across the nation, with a significant majority of 94.2% being operated by Ghanaians.

This sector is heavily concentrated in the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions, which together account for more than half of all mobile business activity.

Similar to open space businesses, mobile businesses are female-led, with women comprising 77.5% of the total. Six out of every 10 operators are aged between 15 and 35 years, highlighting youth dominance.

Further analysis reveals a concerning trend regarding child involvement, as 2,087 mobile business operators are children aged between 10 and 14 years. Notably, approximately 80% of these children are female, and over 80% of all children engaged in this sector work for others rather than for themselves.

According to the GSS, “The sector is primarily focused on the retail sale of food, which accounts for 63.6% of all activities, with nearly three-quarters of female operators specialising in food retail, whereas about a quarter of male counterparts do same.

Non-Ghanaian operators, numbering nearly 5,000, are common in regions bordering other countries such as the Upper West and Volta regions and engaging mainly in non-food retail compared to Ghanaians.

Statistician’s Recommendations

The Government Statistician, Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu in his recommendations after publishing the survey called for the establishment of microcredit schemes to enable businesses in such categories scale up.

He also called for the creation of market infrastructure and improved sanitation in rural and urban areas and the enforcement of child labour laws to protect the vulnerable

“Youth entrepreneurship programmes should support young traders to transition into stable businesses. Also, social protection programmes should be rolled out to cushion families and ensure children remain in school”, he concluded.