Minimum data requirement for compiling SUT Magnus Ebo Duncan (Discussant 1)

General comments Chapter on data requirements for compilation of SUT well covered with different data sources for most of the activities given The chapter made it clear of the extent of data needed for the compilation of SUT

General comments It is also clear that the quality and level of disaggregation of SUT depends a lot on data availability Surveys cited as major sources of data are : - labour force - informal sector - economic - business/enterprise

General comments VAT data has become an important data source for the compilation of national accounts, and should have been treated the way India’s experience on informal sector labour has been covered in earlier chapter

Data availability issues

Surveys as major data source Most countries in Africa are not committed to the conduct of regular surveys on the labour force and informal sector This has created a large data gap leading to the inability of some countries to re-benchmark their national accounts data

Livestock data One of the most difficult to obtain because the activity is mostly at the household level. Livestock surveys, if even conducted, are not regular. Some countries have resorted to the use of livestock models. Disaggregation by product is therefore difficult

Data on illegal border trade Illegal border trade is a substantial in most African countries Coverage of this activity is not a priority for many statistical offices, especially with imports. For exports, efforts are made to estimate because it directly affects the estimation of total domestic output in the goods and products accounts.

Construction data Another difficult area in the compilation of national accounts in Africa. In most countries, building permits are not obtained before buildings are put up. Construction surveys difficult to analyse due to the nature of the activity The domination of the informal sector makes it even more difficult It is easy to monitor the input component through “commodity flow” but the finished product (e.g. building) is difficult to monitor

Government consumption expenditure Information on government consumption expenditure at product level is available in the budget estimates. However, most countries do not have information on the actual expenditure by product because of the way the Controller and Accountant General’s Department produce its reports. These products are usually placed under broad headings of administrative, service and investment expenses.

suggestions

Capacity of national statistics offices should be built in SUT compilation Compilation methodologies and data sources of member countries should be posted on UNECA created website for other countries to study the experiences of others. VAT data is very useful, but to maximise its use, users should code establishments in ISIC. The same should be applied to social security data.

Special training should be conducted on informal sector surveys, with more emphasis on questionnaire content As a practical way of helping countries compile SUT, a workshop should be organised and some selected countries’ data used to compile a SUT, so that those who do not use SUT approach can learn

As decisions are made concerning rounds of population censuses across the continent, so should governments be made to agree to conduct economic surveys at specified years across Africa