African Statistical Newsletter = Bulletin d’Information Statistique 2012

Abstract

When statisticians from all over Africa converged to Cape Town, South Africa, in 2006 to discuss the challenges they faced in supporting their countries’ development efforts through the provision of sound statistical information, they could not forecast, although forecasting is part of the activities under their purview, that this was the beginning of an irreversible trend that will mobilize the entire African statistical fraternity and their partners to propel statistics to the forefront of the development agenda on the African continent. Building on the successes of previous sessions, the third session of StatCom-Africa took place from 21 to 23 January 2012, in Cape Town, South Africa under the theme Harmonizing Statistics in Support of Economic, Monetary and Social Integration in Africa. The event included an Awards ceremony recognizing those who have contributed to the development of statistics in Africa. As part of the meeting, Pan-African institutions namely the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Union Commission (AUC), and ECA organized the fifth meeting of the FASDEV on 17 January 2012. During the FASDEV, development partners and countries shared some best practices about the funding and delivery of technical assistance in support of statistical development in Africa.