Niamey — The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) will organize on September 1-2, 2015 at the Hotel Belle Ivoire in Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire) a meeting for the focal points of the eight (8) countries of West Africa for which the development of country profiles was programmed for the biennial period of 2014-2015.

These are Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal. The participants in the meeting have beenexpanded to include the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS), the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and the Economic and Statistical Observatory (AFRISTAT).

This meeting,which will gather together all19 Focal Points, is explained basically by the need to have a regular supply of reliable statistics in order to understand the economic situation of West African countries and to make relevant decisions that will enable countries to undertake and amplify the structural transformations of their economies. To materialize this commitment, the ECA has decided for the years to come to organize its statistical activities around the regular production of economic and social reports by country called "Country Profiles".

Thus, the production of these country profiles and the efficient execution of the inherent statistical activities require the ECA to establish close working relationships with the national and regional institutions engaged in the production, collection and analysis of statistics. These are notably the statistical institutes, structures in charge of the economy and planning and the inter-governmental organizations.

While strengthening the collaboration between the ECA and its Focal Points, this meeting aims at gaining a better understanding at the national and sub-regional levels of the organization of the country statistical systems in their production and dissemination components. It also constitutes an opportunity to familiarize each of the Focal Points with the ECA product called "Country Profiles" andwith the statistical information necessary for its production, to gather the statistical data collected by the Focal Points for the production of the first generation of "Country Profiles", to identify the institutional constraints around their developmentand/or transmission as well as the technical assistance requirements.

At the end of the meeting, relevant recommendations will be formulated which will definitively establish for each Focal Point a precise mechanism for collaboration and the regular transmission of reliable statistical information as well as the identification of areas needing capacity strengthening in terms of statistics.