From livestock in Somalia to tuna in Seychelles, African trade stories are finding a new voice — online. A four-day workshop in Tunis trained statisticians from all over Africa to write accessible, search-friendly articles for the public. The training is part of the EU-funded PAS II programme.
From 12 to 15 May 2025, more than 30 trade statisticians and communication officers from across Africa gathered in Tunis for a hands-on training on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and digital writing. The aim: to help National Statistical Offices (NSOs) tell the story behind their trade numbers — in plain language and in formats that can be found through Google searches.
Participants from 15 countries took part in two parallel workshops — one in English and one in French — under the Pan African Statistics Programme II (PAS II), funded by the European Union and implemented by STATAFRIC through Expertise France.
- This workshop was about helping NSOs reach the public where they are — online. Statistics only have an impact if people find and understand them, says Jon Olav Folsland, PAS II Communication Expert and facilitator of the English-language workshop.
Highlighting countries’ trade patterns
During the workshop, each delegation drafted and refined articles on their country’s trade patterns — from gold exports in Liberia to fish exports in Seychelles. The teams practiced simplifying complex concepts, writing compelling headlines, using AI tools like ChatGPT for support, and applying SEO strategies to increase online visibility.
- There were huge differences from the first drafts to the final articles. The participants really embraced the idea of making trade statistics both informative and engaging, says Mr. Folsland.
Countries represented in the English session included Somalia, Uganda, South Africa, Lesotho, Gambia, Egypt, Seychelles, and Liberia. The French session included participants from Burundi, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Djibouti, Madagascar, Morocco, Chad, and Tunisia.
The workshop also fostered strong peer exchange, with participants reviewing and improving each other’s work. Follow-up activities will include the publication of these articles on NSO websites, ongoing feedback through a shared Teams workspace, and performance monitoring using analytics tools for the NSOs themselves.
The training was delivered by Lucie Rondelet and Jon Olav Folsland, with logistical and strategic support from the PAS II team. Closing remarks were provided by Maxime Bonkoungou (Team Leader) and Guillaume Poirel (Coordinator, PAS II SC).
