Delivered by Mrs. Botho Kebabonye BAYENDI, Ag. Executive Director of STATAFRIC

Dr Beker Shale, Director General of Ethiopian Statistics Office, Ethiopia

Mr. Ricardo Nsue Ndemosogo Bono, Chair of CoDGs and Director General of the National Institute of Statistics, Equatorial Guinea

Ladies and Gentlemen, Directors General of the National Institutes of Statistics,

Rep. Mr. Oliver Chinganya, Director of the African Center for Statistics, UNECA, Mr. Joseph Ftbodo

Rep. Mr. Louis Kouakou, Ag. Director of the Statistics Department, AfDB, Mr. Ben

Ladies and Gentlemen, Representatives of the RECs,

Ladies and Gentlemen, Representatives of Development Partners,

Honorable guests,

I take pleasure in submitting these remarks to you in my capacity as Director of the Office of Strategic Planning and Delivery (OSPD) under the Cabinet of the Chairperson responsible for Policy & Research, Strategy Plan and Delivery, M&E, Statafric, PanStat Frameworks, Agenda 2063, SDGs emerging frameworks.

Today, we are gathered here, at the Mandela Hall of the AUC, in Addis Ababa, political capital of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, for the 17th Session of the meeting of the Committee of Directors General of Statistics of the National Institutes of Statistics of the African Union.

First of all, before sharing with you some thoughts on the scope of this meeting, allow me to express to you, on behalf of H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, our warm and fraternal thanks, and our deep gratitude to H.E. Dr. Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, to his government and to the Ethiopian people, for the warm and fraternal welcome reserved for all the participants for the success of this meeting.

Ladies and gentlemen,

With the adoption of Agenda 2063 and its first ten-year implementation plan and beginning its second ten-year implementation, Africa is resolutely determined to follow the growth path, which leads towards development and political, economic, cultural and social integration, particularly improving the living conditions of African citizens towards the Africa we want. This development would only be possible thanks to the implementation of the flagship programs of the African Union in the field of Agriculture, industrialization, infrastructure, free movement of people and goods, etc.

The implementation of Agenda 2063 cannot be effective, provided that Africa has reliable, real-time statistics. These statistics must be produced by the African statistical system and by Africans statisticians themselves.

To encourage the production of quality statistics in Africa, African leaders have provided the continent with two major instruments. The African Charter on Statistics and Second Strategy for the Harmonization of Statistics in Africa (SHaSA 2). These two instruments currently constitute the compass for statistical production and harmonization in Africa. In this regard, I am glad to send special thanks to World Bank, Statistics Sweden, European Union and other partners for their unprecedent support to STATAFRIC for the Implementation of the second Strategy for the Harmonization of Statistics in Africa (SHaSA 2) and African Charter on Statistics at National, Regional and Continental levels.

Since the inception and enforcement of the African Charter on Statistics in 2015, STATAFRIC has got 26 ratifications from AU Member States, and I would like to invite remaining countries to sign and ratify it.  This level of ratification ought to increase as we are this year 2023 concluding the implementation of the decade of convergence STYIP, they are getting into the STYIP deemed a decade of acceleration.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

For our memory, SHaSA 2 was adopted in 2018 by the Head States and Government of the AU, and for proper implementation of the SHaSA, the STATAFRIC, as a technical office of the African Union Commission, in collaboration with the African Development Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and development partners, are assisting the Regional Economic Communities and AU Member States, to integrate SHaSA II requirements into their regional and national strategies for the development of statistics in Africa.

Distinguished Delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me to recall that, the theme of the 17th session of the Committee of Directors General of the National Statistical Institutes is the Acceleration of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Implementation which was chosen by the Assembly Decision of the Head of State and Government of AU this year 2023,  to raise awareness among decision-makers, technical and financial partners, data producers and users, researchers, and the public about the importance of official statistics and big data to accelerate implementing AfCFTA and promote the intercontinental trade.

Also, this session will analyze the reports of the different specialized technical groups of the SHaSA 2, the achievements made thus for the challenges encountered and the way forward. In addition, this 17^th session of the Committee of Director General of NSO, will discuss as specific objective the African Union 2023 theme which is the Acceleration of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Implementation, finally, the session will also review statutory and emerging matters on statistics as well as statistical coordination in Africa. What are the key indicators (lead and led) that we should be tracking to asses progress and achievements of achieving the desired trade patterns.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The African Union Institute for Statistics is enjoying by World Bank financial and technical support on the implementation of the second Strategy for the Harmonization of Statistics in African within three main projects: the EAC project, the HISWA (Harmonizing and Improving Statistics in West Africa) Project and HISWACA (Harmonization and Improving Statistics in West and Central Africa) Project. 

Also, as you are aware, in January 2016, the European Union and the African Union launched the Pan-African Statistics Programme (PAS) as part of the broader Pan-African Programme. Its objectives build on the Strategy for the Harmonization of Statistics in Africa (SHaSA) and the African Charter on Statistics and aims to support the AU in the implementation of its integration agenda through better availability of quality official statistics.

Building on the success of the PAS I, the EU and AU launched in 2022, within the Joint Vision for 2030 adopted by Heads of State and Governments at the 6th EU-Africa Summit, the Second PAS Programme funded by the EU for a total amount of 18.7 million euros.

As you know, the PAS II is this time composed of several grants and a Service Contract. Allow me to commend Partners for the support provided with an emphasis on the Service Contract that provides direct support to STATAFRIC as well as the African Statistical System. We welcome in particular support to the SHaSA 2 specialized technical groups (STGs) and selected RECs in their efforts to produce quality and harmonized statistics. We also value support of peer reviews of National statistical systems, as well as technical support to AU member states in the compilation of improved statistics in international trade, national accounts, agriculture, environment and climate change.

Furthermore, by the financial and technical support of approximately 7.7 million USD from Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), STATAFRIC has initiated the second phase of the Migration Statistics Project, spanning from January 2023 to December 2026, building on the achievements of the initial phase conducted between January 2019 and December 2022. This collaborative endeavor involves STATAFRIC and six Regional Economic Communities (RECs): East African Community (EAC), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), and the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU). The overarching objective is to enhance the situation of migrants in Africa and amplify their contribution to continental development. The project aims to ensure the availability of pertinent, high-quality migration statistics for informed decision-making. Key components include statistics production, concepts and methods, dissemination and publication, coordination, and a new focus on forced displacement.

Additionally, Norway will soon contribute to this initiative. The project team, comprising technical advisors and statistical officers recruited from the continent, is strategically positioned across various REC locations, facilitating targeted capacity-building initiatives to improve migration data production and harmonization.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This year, African countries had celebrated the 33rd African Statistics Day under the theme: “Modernizing data ecosystems to accelerate the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

I express the hope that the actions and reflections carried out as part of this commemoration will contribute to strengthening the achievements made in recent years and help identify avenues to strengthen the process of modernization and transformation of the national statistical system, regional statistical system and African Statistical system as well.

In this perspective, our Member States are called upon to redouble their efforts to implement the Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area and to put the continent on the path to long-term industrial development, within the framework of the implementation of the guidelines of the second Strategy for the Harmonization of Statistics in Africa 2017-2026.

Such initiatives cannot succeed without an effort to modernize and transform our data systems, which are essential to guide States on the measures to take relating to the African Continental Free Trade Area and other development strategies.

Before ending my remarks, on behalf of H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the AUC, I would like to thank all the participants who were kind enough to respond favorably to the invitation of the AUC. I remain convinced that our deliberations will significantly contribute to the influence of statistics among our decision-makers and to improving the quality of statistics produced on the continent. I would like to reiterate the firm commitment of the AU Commission to support its Member States in the production and harmonization of statistics on the continent. I call for fruitful collaboration with our partners.

I THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION