Data seen as the key to development

Proposal for China to build a pan-African statistics center could be crucial to boosting reliability and use of important information

Africa's data deficit threatens to handicap the efforts of governments to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, a collection of 17 global targets set by the United Nations. According to a survey last year on the availability of SDG economic indicators and data sources, Africa needs to urgently improve its data collection and analysis programs in order to better plan and allocate resources.

Launched by the African Center for Statistics, a department of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, or UNECA, the report emphasizes the need to use data to monitor sustainable growth. Development indicators provide an overview of national progress toward a more sustainable economy, society and environment.

Oliver Chinganya, the director of ACS under UNECA, says China's technology would significantly help Africa in data collection and analysis. Lucie Morangi / China Daily

Challenges highlighted by the report include poor coordination among ministries, low technical capacity, weak collection and processing infrastructure and use of outdated technology.

While urging more funding and technical assistance to prop up national statistical offices, Gong Xiaoning, the chief of the economic statistics and national accounts section at the ACS, says a proposal forwarded by Kenya to China to establish a data collection center would boost Africa's ability to leverage data in decision-making.

Kenya has asked China to build a pan-African center in the country. This would assist in collecting, analyzing, storing and disseminating accurate and reliable data crucial for economic and social development in the face of booming population growth, limited resources and sluggish economic growth.

The center would draw lessons from China's success in balancing population growth and resource allocation. "This will be very beneficial in building Africa's capacity in data collection and usage. It's a very important proposal indeed," Gong says."Data is important in measuring development progress and ensuring that strategies are formulated to address gaps."

The continent is currently facing significant challenges in accessing SDG economic indicators and their related sources that meet international monitoring standards. The survey found that countries could only meet a third of the requirements from the 240 indicators.

This is seen as likely to change as countries witness economic growth. China underwent similar transitions three decades ago, Gong says, adding that China has steadily overcome these barriers to build its technical capacity and increase funding in relevant departments over time. "Technological advancement has also made the country one of the global leaders in big data, and I think it wants to transfer these benefits to Africa."

According to UNECA, there is a global consensus that investment in the generation and gathering of statistics is fundamental to achieving the UN's 2030 Agenda for development. African countries need to design strategies from complete and sound statistical information for their sustainable development, and be able to benchmark data and see year-on-year progress in achieving the goals, it said.

However, Oliver Chinganya, the director of the ACS, says building the facilities might lead to a duplication of existing institutions, such as the statistical department at UNECA."Moreover, we would like partnerships that equip and advance our already ongoing programs. We are looking forward to working closely with China in geospatial analysis, where China is well advanced. They also have a fund that we would like to tap into," he says.

This means using satellite imaging for geographical mapping and analysis of human societies. The technology can boost efficiency and effectiveness.

Inability to leverage technology has caused data produced by international organizations to be inconsistent with locally gathered statistics. It is therefore seen as imperative for governments to undertake this exercise to avoid inconsistencies with international statistical standards and non-comparability of the results.

"The adaptation and use of modern technologies would ensure quality data, but it will require plans to invest in technical capacities and adequate IT resources," says David Boko, a statistician at the ACS.

The survey found that a number of countries in Africa lack sufficient statistical production architecture, adequate technological resources, macro-data collection processes or an understanding of the potential to exploit big data innovations.

Countries were ranked according to availability of sources, with Tanzania leading, followed by Tunisia, Ethiopia, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda, respectively. Djibouti ranked 54th.

Data availability and quality features prominently in discussions as Africa pushes forward plans to create a free-trade zone. Gong says, however, thattrade information is easily accessible and can also be drawn from Africa's trade partners. "But besides facilitating trade, data is needed to support Africa's efforts in achieving the 17 SDG goals."

lucymorangi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 05/18/2018 page29)