Tunis 20 November 2019 – The activities of the African Union Institute for Statics (STATAFRIC) has been launched on 18 November 2019 by the Department of Economic Affairs of the AUC in the sidelines of the 13th Session of the Committee of Directors General of the National Statistics Offices (CoDGs) holding in Tunis, Republic of Tunisia.
The mandate of STATAFRIC is to lead in the provision and promotion of harmonised quality statistical information and good practice in support and monitoring of the implementation of the African Integration and Development Agenda.
The objectives of STATAFRIC are to:
- Provide the statistical information needed to design, implement, monitor and evaluate African policies;
- Develop and promote standards, methods and procedures that allow the cost effective production and dissemination of harmonized, comparable and reliable statistics throughout the AU and beyond;
- Promote the production of official statistics of the African Union mainly by collecting, gathering, harmonizing and aggregating data published by the NSO/NSI of AU Member States for a better knowledge of Africa’s social, financial, economic and demographic situation;
- Steer the African Statistics System, develop standards and procedures, strengthen cooperation among its partners, build capacity and ensure its leading role in official statistics world-wide.
STATAFRIC’s structure is composed of four technical divisions. They are: Economic Statistics Division; Population and Social Statistics Division; Statistics System Coordination and Innovation Division; and Information, Communication, Publication and Technology Division.
Worth recalling that, the Assembly of the Union in January 2009, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, adopted the Decision on the African Charter on Statistics as a regulatory framework for statistics development in the Continent thereby, recognizing the importance of the establishment of the African Union Institute for Statistics and the role it would play in promoting the production of official statistics of the African Union mainly by collecting, harmonizing and aggregating data published by the National Statistics Offices/Institutes of African countries in order to shed light on the decisions of African institutions and educate African citizens accordingly.
Furthermore, the AU Head of States and Government took a decision during their Ordinary Session in January 2013, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the creation of the African Union Institute for Statistics (STATAFRIC) that will be based in Tunis, Republic of Tunisia and express gratitude to Tunisia for its commitment to cover operating costs at the stage of its inception. The Summit requested the Commission, in collaboration with the Tunisian Government to accelerate the establishment of the institute and report to the Summit.
In accordance with the foregoing, the Commission ensured the elaboration of technical documents for the operationalization of the STATAFRIC including the institutional arrangements and structural organization, the statute, the budget, the host agreement among others. In addition, the Commission signed the host agreement with the Tunisian government on 28th January 2018 and started the process of the finalization of the Statute and the structure of STATAFRIC adopted by the Assembly on June 2018.
During the 2nd AU Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration held on 16-17 April 2018 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, AU Ministers Commended the Host Countries (Tunisia and Cote d’Ivoire) for taking the necessary actions for the operationalization of the Institute (STATAFRIC) and the Centre (PANSTAT) by providing the necessary financial, material and human resources as per the Assembly Decisions on the creation of the Institute and the Training Centre, respectively and Requested the AUC in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) to mobilize sustainable financial resources for the operationalization of the Institute and the Centre.
In addition, the Executive Council, at its 32nd Ordinary Session held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 25 to 26 January 2018, endorsed the STC on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration recommendations on the implementation of the Strategy for the Harmonization of Statistics in Africa (SHaSA 2), its plan of action, its financing plan and resources mobilization strategy.
For More information, please contact:
Mrs. Leila Ben Ali, Head of Statistics Division, Department of Economic Affairs, AUC. Tel: +251911864903, Email: leilabenali@yahoo.fr
Media Queries contact:
Esther Azaa Tankou, Head of Information, Directorate of Information and Communication, African Union Commission Tel: +251 911361185, E-mail: yamboue@africa-union.org / esthertankou@yahoo.com
