African Centre for Statistics United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Review of the Conclusions and Recommendations of the AGNA and the CSC Biruk Haregu Economic Statistics and National Accounts Section African Centre for Statistics AGNA meeting May 2015

African Centre for Statistics Outline of the Presentation I. Conclusion and Recommendations (C&R) of the AGNA 3-6 February 2014, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia II. C&R of the Friends of the Chair of the CSC 2-4 April 2014, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia III. C&R of the Continental Steering Committee 8-9 December 2014, Tunis, Tunisia

African Centre for Statistics African Project on the Implementation of the 2008 SNA (C&R of the AGNA) The AGNA agreed to: Take joint ownership of the African Project on the 2008 SNA, which is a common African Project and every member of the AGNA has a role to play. –The stakeholders of the Project include Member States, RECs, Afristat, pan-African institutions, and concerned regional and international organizations and development partners. The Project Implementation Plan (PIP) consolidating concrete actions and activities proposed voluntarily by various stakeholders serves as a good coordination mechanism and a useful framework for monitoring, evaluation, and reporting on the progress of the Project. The International Monetary Fund in collaboration with the World Bank will provide and coordinate technical assistance and advocacy activities in support of the African Project on the Implementation of the 2008 SNA. UNSD provides Member States the requisite tools, in English and French, to assess statistical systems, identify gaps, and develop national strategies.

African Centre for Statistics African Project on the Implementation of the 2008 SNA (Cont’d) (C&R of the 3 rd CSC) The CSC agreed to: Adopt the Conclusions and Recommendations of the “Friends of the Chair of CSC Meeting” held 2-4 April 2014 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Reaffirm the importance and contribution of the African Project on the Implementation of the 2008 SNA to the progress and development in the area of national accounts in Africa by bringing countries and development partners to work together. Also reaffirm that the Project Implementation Plan (PIP), by listing and detailing the six pillars with the leading agencies and related timeframe, serves as a good coordinating framework. Accordingly, the CSC requested that: –Pan-African Institutions include the committed activities and resources to support implementation into their work programs. –RECs include the committed activities into their Regional Strategy for Statistical Development (RSSD). –Countries include 2008 SNA implementation plans into the National Strategy for Development of Statistics (NSDS).

African Centre for Statistics African Project on the Implementation of the 2008 SNA (C&R of the 3 rd CSC) (Cont’d) Request AGNA to develop milestones for specific technical issues for the implementation of the 2008 SNA. Regarding the results of the survey on the “Status of Implementation of the 2008 SNA and the Needs Assessment,” request the Secretariat: –To urge countries to submit the filled questionnaire by resending the questionnaire to the Directors General of the NSOs; –To circulate the summary report among development partners and to share detailed information as an annex. Endorse the transition plan proposed by the Secretariat to move from Phase I to Phase II of the Project which is to start from 2016 and task the Secretariat to proceed with the implementation of the plan by taking the following into account: –Take stock of the experience and lessons learned from Phase I of the Project, including revisiting the governance structure and signing MOUs between key partners to revise and finalize the ProDoc. –Ensure that the African Project is aligned with the global program for the implementation of the 2008 SNA.

African Centre for Statistics Pillar 1: Country Action Plans (C&R of the AGNA) The AGNA agreed: Member States take the lead by: Developing country plans for implementation of the 2008 SNA, in line with national and African strategies; Taking concrete steps and actions to implement the country plans; and Requesting technical assistance and support when encountering difficulties.

African Centre for Statistics Pillar 2: Technical Assistance (C&R of the AGNA) The AGNA agreed: AfDB takes the lead by: Providing technical assistance to Member States lagging behind in the implementation of the 1993 SNA; Conducting a series of technical assistance missions and training workshops on quarterly accounts as listed in the PIP; and Establishing country twinning with the aim of fostering South- South cooperation.

African Centre for Statistics Pillar 2: Technical Assistance (C&R of the AGNA) (Cont’d) AUC provides support for Member States to adopt and apply modern and country adapted IT Tools by: Producing a report to assess the various IT tools used for the compilation of national accounts in Africa; Organizing regional workshops on ERETES for various levels of users in collaboration with INSEE and Eurostat; and Providing technical support to interested Member States for adopting ERETES software. Bilateral and multilateral development partners develop and scale up technical assistance programs to support African countries in line with the African Project on the Implementation of the 2008 SNA.

African Centre for Statistics Pillar 2: Technical Assistance (Cont’d) (C&R of the 2 nd CSC) The CSC agreed: Coordinated technical assistance be provided in support of the Project; The Secretariat conduct a survey on country plans, follow-up actions, and needs for technical assistance and the results be shared with stakeholders, upon which a plan for delivering the requested technical assistance will be formulated; Member States design country plans for the implementation of the 2008 SNA; Encourage Member States to utilize the technical assistance service provided by The IMF in the area of Integration Framework and Data Dissemination for national accounts through making a formal request through the Statistics Department of the IMF; Encourage Member States, upon the completion of a country plan, to request financial and technical support provided by the World Bank, by informing the Africa Region Statistical Team; and Seek additional technical assistance for RECs to promote the development of economic statistics and national accounts on the continent.

African Centre for Statistics Pillar 3: Institutional Strengthening (C&R of the AGNA) The AGNA agreed: RECs and Afristat take the lead by: Supporting National Statistics Offices of Member States in their respective jurisdictions to establish or strengthen governance and coordination structures for national accounts statistics; Conducting technical assistance missions and organizing statistical users and producers workshops to support Member States; Establishing and strengthening the regional and sub regional governance and coordination structures for the implementation of the African Project; Member States take requisite actions to strengthen or establish governance and coordination structures for national accounts; and AfDB takes requisite actions to establish the African Network of National Accountants (ANNA).

African Centre for Statistics Pillar 3: Institutional Strengthening (Cont’d) (C&R of the 3 rd CSC) The CSC agreed to: Request RECs and Afristat, as part of institutional strengthening, to lead its Member States to set targets for achieving the milestones for adopting the 2008 SNA, to meet the statistical requirements for regional integration and convergence as well as to encourage countries to speed up the process. Request RECs to mobilize technical and financial resources at national and sub- regional levels to support implementation of the 2008 SNA. Request RECs to regularly submit progress reports of activities at both the REC and country levels to the Secretariat for consolidation. Request AfDB to continue with the funding of the “Peer Review” and encourage countries to apply for a peer review of the national accounts within 12 months of implementing the 2008 SNA.

African Centre for Statistics Pillar 4: Technical Documents (C&R of the AGNA) The AGNA agreed: ECA takes the lead by: Establishing a virtual “community of practice” to gather country experts together for sharing and exchanging African country experiences and best practices; Preparing the first and second drafts of the Guidebook on Use of Administrative Data for Compiling National Accounts incorporating international standards and recommendations with African country experiences and practices; and Organizing expert group meetings for reviewing and validating the draft Guidebook.

African Centre for Statistics Pillar 5: Advocacy Campaign (C&R of the AGNA) The AGNA agreed: AUC takes the lead to organize advocacy campaigns in support of national statistical systems at continental, regional, and national levels by: Carrying out high level advocacy missions to Member States, sub- regional, regional, and continental organizations with the aim of delivering targeted messages, providing project updates, and improving resource mobilization. The country missions will target governments, parliaments, civil society, and private sector, and Addressing and reporting the importance and progress of the African Project on the 2008 SNA to the conferences of Heads of the State and Ministers. UNECA develops advocacy materials and tools including the publication of reports, newsletters, flyers, brochures, and a website.

African Centre for Statistics Pillar 5: Advocacy Campaign (Cont’d) (C&R of the 2 nd CSC) The CSC agreed to: Target the African Project’s advocacy campaign at the governmental level with the aim of gaining national support for developing and sustaining human capital and statistical infrastructure; and Promote and develop mechanisms to facilitate South-South collaboration, sharing of best practices, and making efficient use of resources for the effective and timely implementation of country plans for changing over to the 2008 SNA in African countries.

African Centre for Statistics Pillar 6: Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (C&R of the AGNA) The AGNA agreed: The Secretariat of the Project takes the lead by: Producing and disseminating monitoring and evaluation reports on the implementation of the African Project on the 2008 SNA on a biannual basis through collecting information from all stakeholders for meetings of the CSC, AGNA, StatCom-Africa, and Committee of Directors- General (CoDGs), and Further strengthening the Secretariat. Pan-African Institutions, RECs, Afristat, Member States, and concerned international and regional organizations and development partners on a biannual basis provide the requisite information and progress reports to the Secretariat, in line with the agreed PIP framework.

African Centre for Statistics Pillar 6: Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (Cont’d) (C&R of 2 nd CSC) The CSC agreed to: RECs collecting information from Member States regarding the progress of the project and reporting to the CSC through the Secretariat; Sharing of information by international organizations on their technical support activities and progress in the area of national accounts in Africa; Preparing and disseminating biannual project progress reports, by the Secretariat, for review by the CSC; and Updating the PIP by the Secretariat, taking into account the presentations made at meetings, upon which RECs, Afristat and other concerned parties will review and return the document to the Secretariat.

African Centre for Statistics United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Thank you!