Measuring better to decide better

Meeting in Dakar from 27 to 31 July 2026, the Directors General of the National Statistical Institutes of the ECOWAS Member States call for a strengthening of the regional statistical architecture.

The Minister in charge of the Economy, Planning and Cooperation, Mr Alé Nar DIOP, chaired the opening ceremony of this statutory meeting.

Opening the proceedings, the Minister recalled that public statistics, beyond the production of figures, constitute a genuine infrastructure of sovereignty — essential to understanding the realities of our States, guiding public policy and strengthening confidence in public action. In this respect, the reliability, comparability and timeliness of data are today essential conditions for effective economic governance.

Building on this vision, the representatives of the African Union, the ECOWAS Commission, the World Bank and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), together with the Directors General of the National Statistical Institutes, called for accelerated harmonisation of statistical systems, for stronger data reliability and for the consolidation of the regional statistical architecture. They also called for sustained investment in national statistical systems, so as to make data a genuine lever for public decision-making, development and regional integration.

Over the next five days, participants will examine several structural areas of work, notably the harmonisation of economic and public finance statistics, the consolidation of regional statistical tools, and the development of common frameworks designed to strengthen macroeconomic convergence within the community area.

By hosting this meeting, Senegal reaffirms its commitment to actively contributing to the building of a more integrated, more innovative and more effective African statistical system