1. Principal Regional Adviser
ECA Capacity Development Strategy in Statistics to Support Africa’s Transformation Agenda
CEA
ECA Capacity Development Strategy in Statistics to Support Africa’s Transformation Agenda
Sub-regional workshop on Data disaggregation
Prepared by:
Prof. Sylvain H. Boko
Principal Regional Adviser
Head of Development Planning and Statistics Capacity Development Division 1
Lilongwe, Malawi, 28 September 2017

2. Objective of the ECA Capacity Development Strategy
To strengthen the capacity of member States, the AU, the RECs and other pan-African institutions to promote and achieve sustainable and inclusive growth, and to accelerate structural transformation.

3. ECA Capacity Development Services
Promote evidence-based policy and programme formulation
Offer strategic policy choices and solution paths for implementation
Strengthen the capacity of institutions and members States
Support high impact initiatives for regional integration
Deliver knowledge and facilitates knowledge sharing
-Uses evidence based policy and programme formulation in selected substantive areas of competence with a view to providing cutting edge, high quality and strategic research
-Offers strategic policy choices and spells out solution paths for implementation
-Strengthens the capacity of institutions, primarily the AU and its organs, and the governmental and intergovernmental machienery of Members States
-Supports high impact initiatives for regional integration
-Delivers knowledge and facilitates knowledge sharing

4. ECA’s Capacity Building Architecture
Targeted policy research
Knowledge Delivery to Member States and pan-African Institutions
Level 1: Policy research focuses on areas where ECA has acknowledged competence and complies with the highest professional standards. Strategic policy research in order to help advance the technical and political discourse and decision making. It contextualizes international norms for the African continent and, based on sound statistics, develops concrete policy options to broaden the solution paths available to members States. Building on an advanced understanding of change promotion, policy research also needs to takes full account of the capacity challenges faced by member States and pan-African organizations and provides options on how to address them.
Level 2: Knowledge delivery goes beyond flagship reports and seminal studies. Policy options are packaged and delivered in ways that actually make a difference to the policy dialogue. ECA engagement in policy dialogue, policy advice and skills development needs to engage effectively, to context in order to promote and support systems change, and harness synergies. To be relevant and influential, ECA capacity development support services should be optimally attuned and delivered “just in time” to African processes.

5. Policy Research to support the African Agenda: Key thematic areas
Development planning and statistics
Economic and Social development
Regional integration and infrastructure
Natural resources and sustainable development
Governance and Human security (Gender, IT)
Connects related progrannes and strands of work across divisions and by integrating cross-cutting themes relevant to all areas:
Macroeconomic Policy Division; Regional integration and trade division; spcial development policy division; special initiatives division (new tech and innovation; green economy and natural resources; African climate policy center; African minerals development center

6. Delivery of knowledge to support the African Agenda
Promoting system wide synergies
StatCom, Conference of Ministers
Strategic initiatives
Policy Advice/Dialogue
Advisory services, skills development
Knowledge Facilitation and Management
Promoting system wide synergies
Given that ECA is the regional arm of the United Nations System, it has an overall mandate to leverage the Un Systems in supporting regional integration and capacity development of the AU and its organs as well as the Regional Economic Communities. The prime mechanism at the continental level is the Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM). The subregional coordination mechanisms (SRCMs), which were established in the context of the African Economic Community, were conceived as an extension of the arrangements made by United Nations agencies to coordinate their activities at the subregional level. Thus, the mechanisms add a new dimension to coordinated and joint activities at subregional level that are promoted by the regional economic communities and intergovernmental organizations, with technical and financial support from United Nations agencies and other development partners.
There are currently 4 SRCMs for which the ECA Subregional Offices act as coordinator/secretariat.  They are:
Central Africa
Eastern and Southern Africa
North Africa
West Africa.
Strategic initiatives
Strategic initiatives respond to particular opportunities for advancing the African agenda for integration and transformation.
Agenda 2063 is a key African initiative that will require a significant degree of collective energy to organize consultations and eventually build consen­sus around the goals and scenarios on how to im­plement these goals and the monitoring framework.
“Track it, Stop it, Get it” is a campaign of the High-level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows intended to reduce flows from Africa and spur action among Governments, journalists and other stakeholders to address a problem that causes major damage to Africa.
Strategic support for the African Peer Review Mechanism to broaden adherence across the continent and demonstrate how self-assessments can effectively be carried out and integrated into national development plans and related processes.
Policy Advice/Dialogue
To enhance the quality of policy dialogue ECA will position its support based on evidence that can break new ground in terms of policy options, remove systemic bottlenecks, foster agreements for a higher level of collective ambition, and shift implementation into higher gear.  Mindful of the political economy dimensions, ECA will promote a deeper understanding of implications of capacity development aspirations and help identify feasible implementation strategies, i.e. the“How” to get from policy to action and results.  Efforts will aim to maximize impact, including widening partnerships and building dynamic coalitions.  Selected processes will be upgraded to strategic initiatives to leverage stakeholders and raise the visibility of critical issues and resources.  Current areas of focus include:
Development Planning and Statistics
Economic and Social Development
Regional Integration and Infrastructure
Natural Resources and Sustainable Development
Governance and Human Security
Advisory services, skills development (IDEP) to Member States, RECs/IGOs
Knowledge facilitation and management services including the creation of communities of practice (CoP)  for capturing, sharing, exchange and dissemination of information and facilitation of partnerships with Pan-African Institutions, Think Thanks, academic institutions and industry

7. ECA Capacity Building in Statistics: Main Actors
ACS
Strategic Partners: Afristat, Paris21, AfDB…:
ECA Sub-regional Offices (Data Centers)
Capacity Development Division (CDD)

8. ECA Capacity Building in Statistics: Key Focal Areas
Data and Statistics as pillars of Africa’s Transformation Agenda: Agenda 2063; SDGs, NSDS, NDPs
Sound and Efficient Institutional and Organizational Infrastructure
Capacity building in strategic areas such as GISS, Economic Stat and SNA, CRVS, ICT…
Strengthening NSOs

9. ECA Capacity Building in Statistics: Country Collaboration
In 2016, ECA provides technical support in economic statistics and NSDS in the following countries:
Egypt; Gabon; Cabo Verde; Guinea Conakry; Guinea Bissau; Burkina Faso; Liberia
The results observed so far were improvement in the production of economic statistics and better preparation of subsequent NSDS.
In 2017, countries including
Sudan; Mauritania; Senegal; Togo; Mauritania; Chad; Malawi

10. Steps for obtaining ECA support in Statistics CD
Member State addresses formal request for Statistical Support to the ECA ES
ES assigns and instructs
Scoping Mission is undertaken
Action Plan for targeted Capacity Development Programme is Formulated
Implementation of Action Plan

11. CEA
THANK YOU!
Thank you!
UNECA.ORG