Bringing together statistical information of member States will help donor agencies know what projects to be funded.

Having a common base for statistical information from all member States of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) cannot be over emphasised. If we consider that donor agencies lack such important information on a regional level and are most often left with the difficult task of deciding what projects to offer technical and financial support, then the regional meeting of statisticians going on at the Sawa Hotel in Douala is absolutely necessary.

From May 6 to 9, general managers of National Institutes of Statistics of ECCAS member States, regional and continental statistical actors, international institutions (ADB, ECCAS, CEMAC, etc), with the help of consultants, will elaborate a coherent strategic vision of statistical development for the region to serve as a reference for all actions.

The statistical information will include sectors such as trade, infrastructure, agriculture, education, health, energy, environment, transport, economy, population, etc. The opening ceremony was presided over by Ludovic Ngwba, Secretary General at the Littoral Governor’s Office.

Luc Mbong Mbong, Statistician-in-Chief for the African Development Bank (ADB) and African Development Fund (ADF), said at the opening ceremony that the meeting falls within the Support Programme to Strengthen Institutional Capacity in the ECCAS funded by the ADB. He added that the ADB is supporting ECCAS in designing regional statistical data, which can be very useful for funding agencies to know what to support.

“This strategy allows for a redefinition of the role ECCAS should play within the framework of the initiatives launched at the level of the continent and the world,” said Crispin Jaime Rondo Sangale of ECCAS.

Also, during the 17th ordinary session held in Kampala, Uganda, in July 25, 2010, the Executive Board of the African Union adopted the decision to have in place an African chart of statistics and strategy for the harmonisation of statistics in Africa (SHaSA). Regional economic communities (REC) and ECCAS were chosen to coordinate and harmonise the statistical initiatives in Africa.

Happily, ECCAS has some data from CEMAC which will be useful as a starting pointing of action for the region.