Statistics workshop discusses 1993 System of National Accounts implementation
By Cristina Muller, Communication Officer, ECA
14 November, 2005

African and international statisticians meet today (Monday) at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa for a three-day workshop on the compilation of national accounts and its use for policy analysis in African countries.

The meeting is to follow-up recommendations made by the Committee on Development Information (CODI IV), held in Addis Ababa last April, to speed up the implementation of the 1993 System of National Accounts (SNA) programme in Member States. To this end, as mandated by CODI, under the auspices of the statistics unit of the ECA’s Economic and Social Policy Division (ESPD), 27 statisticians from 17 African nations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the UN’s Statistics Division (UNSD), and the United States are scheduled to hold in-depth discussions on this important theme.

Both the IMF and UNSD provided technical support and background material for the workshop. Attending it are directors and senior staff from National Statistical Offices (NSOs) in Kenya, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Egypt, Congo, Comores, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Cameroon, Mauritius, and Ethiopia.

The slow pace of 1993 SNA implementation has been attributed to limited human and financial resources at the country level and the lack of adequate assistance from international partners.

“The ECA has a fundamental role in advancing this issue on the continent,” said Augustin Fosu, director of ESPD. “Workshops of this kind provide a forum for consultation on methodological and practical issues relating to the 1993 SNA update,” he said.

Another expected outcome is to strengthen the capacity of the selected countries in compiling and maintaining national accounts statistics, with special focus on practical guidance related to the implementation of the update issues and on institutional issues namely staffing, financial resources, internal organizations as well as coordination with Central Banks and finance ministries.

“ECA’s special emphasis is on capacity building activities, including workshops, training, provision of material, advisory missions, and ensuring effective collaboration with other regional and sub-regional institutions,” he said.

CODI 4 recommended that African Statistical Offices and compiler agencies be significantly equipped in terms of both human and financial resources to enable them to effectively compile the minimum requirements of data sets (MRDS) of national accounts, preferably using the framework of the 1993 SNA.

Africa is expected to participate in the 1993 SNA revision. So far well-represented, forthcoming workshops will assist nations on the continent to articulate a common position during the revision exercise, expected to be completed by 2008.

In its efforts to speed up the implementation of the 1993 SNA and following the CODI recommendations, the UNECA has conducted assessments and gathered a number of country reports, which highlight the main issues hindering the implementation of the 1993 SNA in the region.

“We firmly believe that with some assistance, Africa may get on track to implement the 1993 SNA by its deadine,” said Fosu.