Niamey — The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), through its Sub-Regional Office for West Africa (SRO-WA), took part in the activities marking the celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Economic and Statistical Observatory for Sub-Saharan Africa (AFRISTAT) in Niamey, Niger. This international organization covers twenty-two (22) African States[1] and seeks to contribute to the development of economic, social and environmental statistics in Member States, and to build their capacities in these areas.

At today's press coffee, 28 September 2016, the ECA spoke on the theme "What Partnership for AFRISTAT, Today and Tomorrow, as per the New African and Global Statistical Board?"

The presentation made by ECA, first of all, justified the relevance of the partnership through increasing and diversifying statistical information needs at multiple levels, thus putting additional pressure on the National Statistical System (NSS), which is already facing difficulties. This concerned the multiplication of sectorial development plans and strategies at the national level, the requirements, in terms of, multilateral surveillance at the sub-regional level, the Agenda 2063 at the continental level and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Agenda 2030, at the international level.

This is why ECA recommended AFRISTAT, so as for more operational effectiveness in the support given to Member States, to build partnerships based on comparative advantages with other statistical structures such as the United Nations Statistics Division at the International level and ECA's African Centre for Statistics (ACS) at the Continental level.

This press coffee was opened by Her Excellency, Mrs. Kane Aïchatou Boulama, Minister of Planning of Niger and President of the Council of Ministers of AFRISTAT. The meeting was attended by eminent statisticians such as Mr. Lamine Diop and Mr. Jean-Louis Bodin, Managing Directors of the National Statistical Offices (NSOs) of Member States, the Executive Director of the Institute for Training and Demographic Research (IFORD) and several other international and/or sub-regional organizations such as UNDP, UNICEF, IMF, World Bank, WAEMU and CEMAC.

[1] Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Chad, Togo.