ECA launches program to modernize statistical production processes in Africa

On Mar 29, 2023 111

Addis Ababa, March 29, 2023(FBC) – The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has launched a program to support Member States in modernizing administrative data for statistical purposes.

According to ECA, the program follows the road map for transformation and modernizing official statistics in Africa, which was approved by the ECA’s conference ministers of Finance and Economic Planning last week.

Administrative data sources provide several advantages, ECA has indicated adding that it also offers high-frequency dis-aggregated data, which is critical in the SDGs context of leaving no one behind; reduce production costs as data is collected routinely for administrative activities; and decrease respondent burden.

In a statement delivered on behalf of the UN system in Cameroon, Adama Coulibaly, Chief of the Sub Regional Initiatives Section at ECA’s Office for Central Africa, emphasized the need for national statistical systems to “transform and modernize to be more agile and resilient to crises” such as COVID-19.

In line with the ECA initiative, Joseph Tedou, Director General of the National Institute of Statistics (NIS) in Cameroon, said the NIS is currently implementing two projects using administrative statistics, namely the Statistical Business Register (SBR) and the turnover index.

Tedou expressed gratitude to the ECA “for supporting these important projects” and for making the workshop possible, noting that the initiative aligns with the implementation of the National Development Strategy 2020-2030 and Cameroon’s goal of modernizing its statistical apparatus.

“The NIS hopes to continue its efforts towards modernizing the country’s statistical apparatus and complying with international standards,” said Tedou.

ECA officials handed over copies of the road map to the Director of INS Cameroon and the Deputy Executive Director of the Uganda Bureau of Statistics respectively, following a briefing on ECA’s support for their program on the modernization of administrative data.