By Louise Jobe
The 18th annual session of the African Union Committee of Directors of National Statistics Offices (CoDGs) meeting commenced at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre in Kerr Sering on Monday, 9 December 2024.
The theme for this year’s meeting was: ‘Contribution of statistics to educate an African fit for the 21st century, and building resilient education systems for increase access to inclusive lifelong, quality and relevant learning in Africa.’
Opening the meeting, Gambia’s Vice president, Muhammed B. S. Jallow, said as a former planner, statistician, educationist, and member of the National Statistics Council of The Gambia, he was honoured to be part of the meeting of the Committee of Director Generals (CoDGs) of African Union Member States, and on behalf of the President and the Government and people of The Gambia, he was welcoming all participants to the gathering.
He said national statistical systems must be equipped to meet growing data demands arising from the SDGs, the AU Agenda 2063, the African Development Bank’s ten Year Strategy (2024–2033), and national development plans. He said failure to modernize risks, undermines ‘our’ ability to respond effectively to these frameworks.
‘‘The African Charter on Statistics and the Second Strategy for the Harmonization of Statistics in Africa provide guiding frameworks for ensuring comparability and consistency of statistics across the continent. While challenges remain, Africa has the capacity to overcome them. I encourage fostering South-South cooperation to facilitate cost-effective knowledge and skills transfer, particularly for critical activities such as digital population and housing censuses,’’ VP Jallow said.
He however said that disparities persist in the production of key statistics such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Balance of Payments, and International Investment Position (BoP-IIP). He said while some nations are preparing to adopt the 2025 System of National Accounts (SNA), others remain on older frameworks. He urges Pan-African institutions and Regional Economic Communities to support countries lagging by equipping them with tools and resources to produce data that reflects current realities.
According to him, as a former producer and user of statistics, he is acutely aware of the criticisms often directed at the quality of data produced, and encourages their continuous engagement with the media to raise awareness of the importance of their work, and the methodologies they employ.
According to VP Jallow, transparent communication can help build trust and understanding among stakeholders. He said that in The Gambia, ‘‘we have made significant strides in digitalizing our systems through partnerships with the World Bank, UNDP, UNFPA, and UNECA. Additionally, we are enhancing capacity in big data utilization to complement traditional data sources for more robust policy formulation.’’
He called on Pan-African institutions and Regional Economic Communities to collaborate with national statistical systems to support the production of reliable, timely, and high-quality statistics. Such efforts will enhance comparability, reduce duplication, and optimize resource use, ensuring informed decision-making and effective policy implementation across the continent, he added.
Nyakassi M. B. Sanyang, the Statistician General and director of the Gambia Bureau of Statistics in his welcome remarks, thanked the delegates and told them that they have demonstrated real commitment to the development of statistics by attending the session.
‘‘Traveling to The Gambia can be challenging due to the limited availability of direct flights to Banjul. But it has taken some of you more than 24 hours to arrive here, and we are indeed grateful and pray that you all return home safely,’’ he said.
Ms. Botho Kebabonye, Director of Africa Centre for Statistics (UNECA), on behalf of the authority of the (AUC) Chairperson H. E. Mussafaki Mohammat, and the African Union Institute for Statistics (STATAFRIC), thanked the Government and people of the Republic of The Gambia for the warm reception. She concluded by reiterating the firm commitment of the AU Commission to support member States in the production and harmonization of statistics on the continent and called for fruitful collaboration of all partners.
