Chief, Economic Statistics and National Accounts Section, ACS, UNECA Progress Report by ECA Xiaoning Gong Chief, Economic Statistics and National Accounts Section, ACS, UNECA at 5th Meeting of CSC for National Accounts, 31 Oct-1 Nov 2016, Tunis, Tunisia

Outline of the Presentation Review of the progress made since the last CSC meeting Presented here in the following Challenges encountered Mentioned in the “summary and conclusions” (as raised and presented by SADC, ECOWAS, AfDB, +) Technical issues arising from the fields Criteria of adopting the 2008 SNA Good practice to share Prioritize and focus our tasks that can make a good use of our comparative advantages Some efforts made in mobilizing resources for the sub-projects Proposed and planned way forward Will gather from the discussion around the table

Structure of the Review The ProDoc for Phase II comprises the following six expected accomplishments (EA): EA1: Increased support for 2008 SNA implementation at the national, regional, and international level EA2: Institutional capacities strengthened EA3: Technical capacities strengthened EA4: Technical operational guidebooks compiled EA5: Developed national accounts in Member States in accordance with 2008 SNA EA6: Continuity and sustainability of the implementation of the 2008 SNA

EA1 - Support for Implementing 2008 SNA (Action Plans) ECA is supporting countries to formulate and finalize their national action plans through a consultation process: review, feedback, revision, and finalization. To ensures that the final national action plan includes the following key components: Country context Outline of the objectives and expected outcomes The activities Time and resource requirements, and the organization and process required to achieve the objectives and expected outcomes (i.e. a set of national accounts and aggregates corresponding to the milestones of the 2008 SNA). The action plans of the following countries have been reviewed and finalized: Cote d'Ivoire, Republic of Congo, Niger, Seychelles, and South Sudan.  

EA1 - Support for Implementing 2008 SNA (Cont’d) Up to May 2016, among the 48 countries that responded to the questionnaire: 32 countries reported that they have formulated national actions plans for implementing the 2008 SNA. 10 countries reported that they are currently in the process of formulating national action plans. The 10 countries are: Angola, Botswana, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Uganda, Togo, and Zambia. 5 countries reported having no action plan and have expressed their need for technical assistance to develop their action plans. The 5 countries are: Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea and Liberia.

EA1 - Support for Implementing 2008 SNA (Advocacy) Develop advocacy materials -- project brochures, posters, and website (updated regularly, contains all project related contents, activities and documents) Circulate the AGNA Account Newsletter to inform and update on national accounts activities taking place in Africa Organized a Round Table Meeting with donors in November 2015 ECA ES to address to Heads of State and Government at the 27th African Union Summit held in Kigali, Rwanda in July 2016 and talk with the Presidents of the MSs (e.g. Guinea, Togo, etc.) Through the themes of the Africa Symposium for Statistical Development (ASSD), SatCom-Africa/CoDGs, and that of the African Statistics Day 2016

EA2 – Strengthen Institutional Capacities At the continental level, the regular activities of the AGNA and the CSC contribute to strengthening the coordination structures and systems of Member States, through Decisions and recommendations adopted in the field of national accounts. Developing, monitoring, evaluating, and reporting on the African strategy for the implementation of the 2008 SNA. brought together African countries, pan-African institutions, regional and international organizations, and development partners to discuss and coordinate their actions to avoid duplication and facilitate the effectively and timely implementation of the 2008 SNA in Africa.

EA3 – Strengthen Technical Capacities “Supply and Demand Matrix of Technical Assistance for the Implementation of the 2008 SNA in Africa” has been developed, endorsed, and adopted by the AGNA in April 2016. To matches the training, technical, and financial needs of countries with supporting institutions committed to providing the needed assistance (AFRISTAT, ECOWAS, IMF, World Bank, AfDB, and AUC). Technical missions carried out: Guinea: To assess the current practice, formulate road map for follow-up, review and revise the current time series of GDP (2006-2013). Mauritania: To launch a new base year, in accordance with the 2008 SNA. Developing a sub-project on compilation of SUTs utilizing administrative data and incorporating the informal sector into national accounts. In the first phase, 10 pilot countries will receive technical support to produce and improve their SUTs in the next two years (i.e.: Equatorial Guinea, Malawi, Nigeria, Botswana, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Zambia, South Sudan and Sudan).

EA4 – Compile Technical Operational Guidebooks In Africa, the informal sector is a major source of employment and income; and thus, a significant contributor to GDP. Informal sector statistics are essential for policy formulation and analysis, including poverty reduction, labor force and employment, and economic and social development. However, properly measuring the size and contribution of informal sector and informal employment has been challenging for data collection and compilation in official statistics. Expert Group Meeting on “Accounting for Informal Sector in National Accounts” was organized in January 2016 to develop an operational guidebook for capacity building, harmonizing methodology, and facilitating cross-country data comparisons in Africa. ECA is working to develop a guidebook on Accounting for Informal Sector in National Accounts, highlighting around 20 case studies from African countries on informal sector surveys and methodologies to incorporate the informal sector in national accounts.

EA5 - Develop National Accounts in Member States The 2008 SNA introduces changes which have a wide reaching impact in the statistical system. The NSOs should take the opportunity to review and strengthen the overall quality and scope of source data for national accounts.

EA6 – Coordination, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reports of the Project Reviewed and updated the Project Documents (ProDoc) and Progress Reports, including ProDoc for Phase II, Progress Report for Phase I, and on-going Progress Reports annually reporting to the StatCOM/CoDGs. Conducted regular survey and updated the reports on the “Current Status and Needs Assessment for the Implementation of the 2008 SNA in Africa” and “Assistance Provisions for the Implementation of the 2008 System of National Accounts In Africa” (in April 2016). In support of better coordination and aligning work in the area of national accounts in Africa to avoid gaps and minimizing duplication.

Summary and Conclusions National action plan: Good progress at country level, additional supports are needed in response to the requests of countries. Advocacy: Many things can be done without much depending on financial resources. Institutional strengthening: more efforts are needed at regional and national level. Technical capacity building: engaging more involvement of the other partners/stakeholders: such as IMF, WB, INSEE, etc. Technical operational guides compilation: will find a way to speed up the revision, edition, and finalization process. Develop national accounts at country level: i.e. follow-up actions and activities to the national action plans. Monitoring, evaluation, and reporting of the project: need partners’ feedback and information sharing.