Libreville, Monday November 20, 2023 (Infos Gabon) – The celebration of this African Day on November 18 was an opportunity for Gabon to reaffirm its commitment to this development instrument in the era of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Established in May 1990 by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) of the United Nations during a meeting of African ministers in charge of Planning and Development, African Statistics Day was celebrated This year. Gabon thus joined other states on the continent to celebrate this event whose main objective aims, on the one hand, to raise public awareness of the importance of statistics in all aspects of social life and economic and, on the other hand, to constantly remind the authorities of the usefulness of statistical data in the definition of socio-economic policies.
This year’s edition was themed: “Modernizing data ecosystems to accelerate the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA): the role of official statistics and big data in economic transformation and the sustainable development of Africa. In his speech for the occasion read by Pierre-Claver Mfouba, Director General of Statistics, the Gabonese Minister of Economy and Participation wanted to place this theme in its context.
According to Mays Mouissi, “this theme was chosen to raise awareness among decision-makers, technical and financial partners, producers and users of data, researchers and the general public on the importance of official statistics and big data in a modernized framework. to accelerate the implementation of the Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area and ultimately promote the economic transformation and sustainable development of Africa.” According to the speaker, the said theme which aligns with that of the African Union for 2023, namely: “Acceleration of the implementation of the AfCFTA”, “summarizes the call for modernization and integration information systems on the continent in order to produce and use quality official statistics by seizing the possibilities offered by big data.
A need for modern infrastructure
According to Mays Mouissi, in order to fully benefit from the economic and social value of modern data services, a structured and robust digital infrastructure is required. “Gabon therefore absolutely needs modern infrastructure to collect, exchange, store, process and distribute available information,” he insisted.
For the Minister of Economy and Participations, Gabon, engaged since August 30, 2023 in a transition for the restoration of its institutions, must redouble its efforts in the implementation of the Agreement creating the Zone of African continental free trade. The latter being, according to him, “a tool for the fundamental and structural transformation of Africa’s economy, in order to put the continent on the path to sustainable industrial development, within the framework of the guidelines of the Harmonization Strategy Statistics in Africa 2017-2026, adopted by the Heads of State and Government of the African Union.
Modern infrastructure to boost the National Statistical System
To benefit from it, the National Statistical System must be an effective tool serving strategic development planning, strengthening democracy through the restoration of institutions and supporting decision-making at all levels. “This is why over the next two years the government will provide the SSN with modern statistical infrastructure so that the data and their advanced analyzes can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of public services, offer services better adapted to citizens and improve transparency. This is the challenge that we must meet in the coming months,” he concluded.
FIN/INFOSGABON/SM/2023
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