Africa’s dearth of statistics a major impediment to policymaking

How many children are enrolled in school in Libya? How many women live in rural Eritrea? Statistics such as these – taken for granted in the developed world – are hard to find for many African countries. This, in turn, leads to poor policy choices and government-by-guessing.

African countries have a poor record when it comes to the availability of updated national statistics. Across the continent, reliable data appear to be a luxury, despite advances in development efforts. And this may compound problems around policymaking and tracking. It can’t be easy planning for impact when baseline information is scanty or, worse, non-existent.

The average statistical capacity which provides insight on the various aspects of national statistical systems is telling. In 2019, sub-Saharan Africa scored about 56%. 

Egypt, the continent’s top performer, had an estimated 90% capacity, whereas countries such as Nigeria scored 56.7%, Ghana 75.6% and Malawi 73.3%. 

Others, such as Libya and Eritrea, received scores of zero. 

This disparity in statistical capacity has to be addressed if the African continent is to make significant steps towards the seemingly elusive goal of economic prosperity.

A decade ago, the 2009 African Charter on Statistics was signed. According to the African Union, only 23 of the 33 African countries that signed the charter have acceded to it. 

At its inception, Jean Ping, former chairperson of the African Union Commission, emphasised the role of the charter as a tool for bridging “the immense gap between the supply and demand for statistical information needed for development and for the African integration process”. 

The irony perhaps is that monitoring the implementation of such an endeavour would necessitate data tracking and measurement, which in the absence of deliberate commitment of individual countries would result in poor implementation and evaluation of performance outcomes.

Economic development predicates itself on quality of trade, infrastructure and innovation. When it comes to trade, official estimates leave out a significant portion of informal trade data, leading to errors of omission that could otherwise be mitigated by expanding statistical capacity in the informal sector.

Take, for instance, the 2020 Economic Development in Africa report which cited inconclusive findings in some of the trade gap analyses conducted as a consequence of inconsistencies of trade data. According to the report, regional trade integration on the continent will not be attained in the absence of a strong statistical backdrop.

Intellectual property systems provide a basis for investor valuation and a harbour for inventor protection. Despite existing frameworks such as the African Intellectual Property Organisation and African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation, the World Bank recorded patent applications in only 18 of the 54 African countries during 2018.

Does this data deficit signal a lack of innovation or an inefficient system of data management leading to poor access? 

These impediments in the analysis not only create barriers to entry for investments, but they also increase the cost of doing business in more volatile economies.

Time and time again, researchers are struck by the lack of a common understanding of the problems facing countries and the lack of data upon which to base discussions and decisions.