Multinational - Statistical Capacity Building project of Regional Member Countries of the International Comparison Program for Africa (ICP Africa)

This Statistical Capacity Building project of Regional Member Countries is part of the International Comparison Program for Africa (ICP Africa), which will help to reversing the current slide in Africa’s statistical information systems. ICP is a global statistical initiative aimed at producing estimates of price levels, expenditure values, and purchasing power parity (PPP) that allows for cross-country comparisons of price levels, and economic aggregates in real terms. This program aims to provide specific assistance to African countries in the collection of socio-economic statistics for generating Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) data for cross-country comparisons and with a view to meeting the urgent demand for reliable and timely data to support the MDGs, PRSPs, the NEPAD initiative and the Results-Based Management and Evaluation system for development effectiveness. The intervention focuses on: improving the quality and availability of data; institutional strengthening; and promoting the use of data. It will be implemented at three levels: regional, sub-regional and national. The regional component of the program aims at improving the quality, comparability and consistency of economic data, and establishing and maintaining an up-to-date regional databank. The sub-Regional component where selected sub-regional organizations associated with statistical activities (AFRISTAT, COMESA, ECOWAS and SADC) will work closely with the countries during the data collection phase where they will be responsible for organizing, training of field workers, and follow-up of field work in the 51 participating RMCs. The national component of the program would involve undertaking survey activities focused on improving price statistics, national accounts and related basic data. The Program elements focus on: improving data quality and availability; institutional strengthening; and data use promotion. The implementation of the program should contribute to building cooperation among the institutions involved in the generation and in the use of socio-economic statistics in Africa. The total cost is UA 23.79 million, including price and physical contingencies, spanning from June 2002 to April 2007.