Fourth Steering Committee of the UNSD-ECOWAS Project

Opening Statement

By Dimitri SANGA, O.I.C, African Centre for Statistics

28 August 2006

Distinguished representative of the ECOWAS Secretariat

Mr. Paul Cheung, Director of the UNSD

Heads of National Statistical Offices,

Distinguished participants,

Ladies and Gentlemen:

On behalf of the Executive Secretary, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) for this fourth and last meeting of the Steering Committee of the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD)-Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) project on “Strengthening Statistical Capacity Building in Support of the Millennium Development Goals in the ECOWAS Region”.

This meeting is happening at a turning point of the Commission and its statistical function. In fact, the Executive Secretary, Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, since his appointment in December 2005, has launched the process of repositioning the ECA to serve Africa better. One of the main areas considered in the repositioning process is statistics and statistical capacity building in the African region.

As a result of the repositioning process, he elevated the statistical function within the Commission by creating the African Centre for Statistics (ACS) in August 2006 a new administratively autonomous entity at the divisional level as opposed to the former Statistics Team within a Division.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

The present meeting is the first since the creation of the African Centre for Statistics. Allow me to seize this opportunity to thank all stakeholders in statistical development in Africa who made relentless effort for this to happen.

At the front line of this battle were countries, which voiced their concerns in different fora organized by the ECA with respect to the decline of the statistical function at ECA.

A special thank to the group of countries mandated by African countries assembled in February 2006 in Cape Town to accompany the ECA in the process of revamping its statistical activities. This group, known as the “Friend of the ECA,” ensured that the voice of statistics be strongly heard in the last conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development.

I also take this opportunity to underline the critical contribution of the UNSD in supporting African statistical systems, especially in a period where the statistical function at ECA was unable to respond to the high demand on capacity building from its member States. The present project led by the UNSD with the collaboration of the ECOWAS Secretariat and the ECA is a vibrant example of this contribution.

The ECA is already working closely with the ECOWAS Secretariat in data management and statistical databases development and implementation. The ACS intends to expand its support to the ECOWAS Secretariat and its member States in other areas of statistics.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

The new African development agenda including the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), the MDGs, the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRSs) and many sectoral programmes putting emphasis on tracking progress towards attaining development goals have created new demands for comprehensive and quality statistics required for the analysis of the current situation, forecasting and monitoring, implementation and evaluation of programmes.

This has created now than ever a momentum for the success of the African statistical system. The African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development have renewed their support for statistical development on the Continent during the last conference held in Ouagadougou and key regional players have strongly resolved to put statistics at the forefront of their respective agendas. We, indeed, have witnessed the creation of the African Centre for Statistics at ECA, an upgrade of the statistical function at the African Development Bank (AfDB) to the level of a department, and the renew interest of the AU in advocacy for statistics at the highest level.

As you are all aware, the last meeting of the Forum on African Statistical Development (FASDEV) has endorsed a Reference Regional Strategic Framework for Statistical Capacity Building in Africa (RRSF) as the guide for statistical development on the Continent for the next 10 years. The RRSF was elaborated with funding from AfDB, the World Bank, and PARIS21, under the coordination of the ECA.

The RRSF, in line with the Marrakech Action Plan for Statistics (MAPS), strongly recommends that countries develop National Strategies for the Development of Statistics (NSDSs), covering all sectors and users. The NSDSs are expected to provide countries with strategies for strengthening their statistical capacity across the entire national statistical system (NSS). They present a comprehensive and unified framework for continual assessment of evolving user needs and priorities for statistics and for building the capacity needed to meet these needs in a more coordinated, synergistic and efficient manner.

These are in line with the Workshop on Strategic Planning of statistical activities that will take place starting tomorrow.

Underlining the critical role of statistics in the development process, Robert Kaplan and David Norton said, “if you can't measure it, you can't manage it”; allow me to add, “if you can't plan, you can't manage”.

Dear participants:

Before I end my statement, I would like once again to acknowledge the contribution of the UNSD to the strengthening of statistical capacity of the ECOWAS member States through this development account project, and the commitment of the ECOWAS secretariat in favor of statistics.

I would also like to assure you that the African Centre for Statistics would take forward the legacy of this project through its programme of work.

I finally call upon partners and all stakeholders to ensure that future efforts to strengthen statistical capacity building in Africa be channeled through the newly created African Centre for Statistics.

Wishing us fruitful deliberations

Thank you for your attention.