Report of Harmonization of Data Collection and Economic Forecasting Methods in West Africa

The drafting and monitoring and evaluation of development policies and programmes call for reliable, available and timely statistics. This unending call for reliable statistics by decision makers and other analysts in developing countries grew with the creation of regional economic blocs at the same time as issues of available data comparability arose.

West Africa’s new development agenda, which focuses on regional integration, with the drafting of economic programmes such as the Regional Economic Programme (REP) of the UEMOA Commission, the ECOWAS Commission’s Economic Partnership Agreement Development Programme (EPADP) and the more recent Community Development Programme have highlighted the need for comparable data as well as raised the issue of harmonization of economic forecasting methods. All these requirements pose a challenge to Africa’s already weak and vulnerable National Statistical Systems (NSS), which have to deal with new requirements and constraints as well as with bodies such as the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and inter-governmental organizations