The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission has called for stronger national statistical systems, improved statistical governance and deeper regional cooperation to enhance the production of reliable, timely and high-quality data across West Africa.
The call followed the conclusion of a five-day regional training workshop on Statistical Leadership and Management for managers of National Statistical Systems (NSS) from ECOWAS member states and Mauritania.
According to a statement published on the ECOWAS Commission’s website, the workshop was organised under the World Bank-funded Project for the Harmonizing and Improving of Statistics in West and Central Africa.
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The training aimed to strengthen leadership and management capacities, improve coordination among statistical institutions and support the production and dissemination of credible data across the region.
ECOWAS Calls for Knowledge Sharing
In his closing remarks, the Director of Research and Statistics at the ECOWAS Commission, Samson Bel-Aube Nougbodohoue, thanked participants for their active engagement and contributions throughout the workshop.
He urged them to share the knowledge and skills acquired with their colleagues upon returning to their respective countries to extend the benefits of the training to national statistical institutions.
Nougbodohoue also expressed appreciation to the government and people of Liberia for supporting the successful organisation of the workshop, particularly the Director-General and staff of the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services.
Participants Recommend Statistical Reforms
The workshop produced recommendations urging member states to strengthen strategic leadership, protect the professional independence of statistical institutions and improve managerial capacity and coordination among data-producing agencies.
Participants also called for faster development and implementation of national statistical quality-assurance frameworks to improve the accuracy, consistency and reliability of official statistics.
They emphasised the responsible use of artificial intelligence in producing official statistics, diversifying data sources and developing stronger communication strategies to encourage wider use of statistical information.
ECOWAS Urged to Expand Technical Support
Participants called on the ECOWAS Commission to support national statistical institutions through capacity-building programmes on generative artificial intelligence, regular regional exchanges of experience and good practices, and technical assistance.
They also recommended translating international statistical guidelines into Community languages and introducing peer reviews to strengthen quality assurance across member states.
Another recommendation was the establishment of a regional committee to ensure that West African perspectives are adequately represented in international statistical decision-making.
The workshop brought together representatives of National Statistical Systems from ECOWAS member states and Mauritania, alongside regional institutions, including the West African Monetary Institute, the West African Monetary Agency and the Economic and Statistical Observatory of Sub-Saharan Africa.
The training concluded with the presentation of certificates to participants.
