The African Project on the Implementation of the 2008 System of National Accounts (SNA) has been developed by the African Group on National Accounts (AGNA) with the aim of bringing together regional and international organizations and development partners to address the technical and institutional challenges African countries face in producing timely and quality national accounts, in support of good economic governance, regional integration, and sustainable development. Additionally, the availability of quality and timely economic statistics has been identified as a critical component of monitoring, evaluating and reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), i.e. Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063 in Africa. The African Project on the 2008 SNA is a continental, joint and coordinated effort of Member States, pan-African Institutions (ECA, AUC, and AfDB), Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Afristat, and international organizations and development partners. 

The Continental Steering Committee (CSC) of the Project, established in September 2013, serves as the governing and decision making body of the African Project. Meetings of the CSC serve as a forum for project stakeholders to discuss and coordinate their actions and to ensure effective and timely implementation of the 2008 SNA in Africa. The African Project on the 2008 SNA was launched in January 2014, starting with a Phase I which spanned a two-year period, and was completed in December 2015. The last meeting of the CSC, held in November 2015, reviewed and endorsed the Project Progress Report for Phase I and the Project Document for Phase II; subsequently, Phase II of the Project was launched in January 2016 and is anticipated to continue until December 2018. The goal of Phase II of the African Project is to support Members States to produce harmonized and comparable national accounts and related economic statistics through strengthening the institutional capacity of National Statistics Offices (NSOs), building technical capacities for national accounts compilation, and effective and timely implementation of the 2008 SNA for the production of quality national accounts.

In this context, the 5th Meeting of the CSC, jointly organized by ECA, AUC, and AfDB, will be held 31 October – 1 November 2016 in Tunis, Tunisia. The purpose of the meeting is to: (i) review the progress of the project, (ii) provide guidance on issues arising from the project, and (iii) define and advise on the way forward for the project. The 5^th Meeting of the CSC will be a pre-event of the African Symposium for Statistical Development (ASSD), which will be held on 2-4 November 2016 in Tunis, Tunisia. By organizing the CSC and the ASSD back-to-back, it is anticipated that the participants of the CSC will continue participating and contributing to the ASSD.