StatCom/AGNA/2011/07/7.EN 10 th Meeting of the African Group on National Accounts Pretoria, South Africa 2 nd & 4 th July 2011 Presentation of the Regional Project Document Xiaoning Gong & Steve Gui-Diby
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Session 5: Regional Project Document for the implementation of the 2008 SNA in Africa Xiaoning Gong, Chief Steve Gui Diby, Associate Statistician Economic and National Accounts Section (ACS) United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) 10TH MEETING OF THE AFRICAN GROUP ON NATIONAL ACCOUNTS (AGNA), Pretoria, South Africa, 2 & 4 July 2010
Outline Problems and Issues to Be Addressed Limited Human, Financial, and Technical Resources Weak Capacity and Statistical Infrastructure Unharmonious National Accounts Systems in the Continent Inconsistency and Incompleteness in the Coverage of the Economy Early Stages in the Development of National Accounts SNA Regional ProDoc: Scheme Contents of main activities and Roles played by AGNA members
Section 1 Problems and Issues to Be Addressed Limited Human, Financial, and Technical Resources Weak Capacity and Statistical Infrastructure Unharmonious National Accounts Systems in the Continent Inconsistency and Incompleteness in the Coverage of the Economy Early Stages in the Development of National Accounts
Limited Human, Financial, and Technical Resources National Accounts in Africa is mainly compiled by National Statistical Offices (89%) Ministries of Economic Affairs / Planning (7%) Central Banks (< 5%) Average number of National Accountants per country: 8 More than half of the African countries: < 6 professional staff working in the National Account Departments of their NSOs
Limited Human, Financial, and Technical Resources (Cont d) High turnover rate: 4 professional staff have left from the National Accounts Department in the last five years. Northern Africa: 5 professional staff have left the National Accounts Department while 4 professional staff have joined the National Accounts Department in the last five years. In half of the countries: Number of PC available in NA department < total Number of National Accounts staff.
Weak Capacity and Statistical Infrastructure Relied mostly (60% 70%) on Administrative Records to meet the minimum requirement datasets for National Accounts Analytical capacity, dissemination, and networks with users and respondents: On average, it takes 5 months to release the first estimate The final estimate takes around 17 months Advance release calendar exists only in about half of the countries
Unharmonious National Accounts Systems in the Continent SNA 12 ISIC SNA 1993 SNA 1968 Percentages 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 20 ISIC Rev. 4 36 ISIC Rev. 3.1 26 10 8 ISIC Rev. 3 ISIC Rev. 2 Others Classifications 88 Percentages 35 30 25 20 15 28 30 17 25 10 5 CPC 0 CPC Ver. 2 CPC Ver. 1.1. CPC Ver. 1 Others Classifications
Inconsistency and Incompleteness in the Coverage of the Economy According to ICP Africa 2005, the following areas have not been well captured: Imputed rents of owner occupied dwellings Own account production and consumption Informal sector Non profit institutions and civil societies State and local government, and Aid agencies
Early Stages in the Development of National Accounts 20% of the total African countries have reached only to Phase 1: Basic Indicators of GDP at Current and Constant Prices; Final Expenditures on GDP and GDP by Industry. 65% have so far reached to Phase 2: to produce additional economic aggregates of GNI, and other primary indicators; External Account of Primary Income and Current Transfers, Capital and Financial Accounts for the Rest of the World. 15% (eight) African countries have reached to Phase 3: Production Account for All Institutional Sectors; while Income Accounts, Capital Accounts, and Financial Accounts for General Government.
Countries with SUT Country Freq of Update Country Freq of Update 1 Algeria Every year 15 Rwanda Every five years 2 Burkina Faso Every year 16 Egypt Every ten years 3 Burundi Every year 17 Uganda Every ten years 4 Cameroon Every year 18 Benin Other 5 Central African Republic Every year 19 Gabon Other 6 Congo Every year 20 Ghana Other 7 Malawi Every year 21 Lesotho Other 8 Mali Every year 22 Liberia Other 9 Mauritania Every year 23 Madagascar Other 10 Mauritius Every year 24 Nigeria Other 11 Morocco Every year 25 Togo Other 12 South Africa Every year 26 Zambia Other 13 Tunisia Every year 27 Zimbabwe Other 14 D. R. of Congo Every five years
Section 2 SNA Regional ProDoc: Scheme Contents of main activities and Roles played by AGNA members
SNA Regional ProDoc: Scheme Institutional Strengthening Methodological Development Training Technical Assistance Advocacy Campaign Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting
Methodological Development To develop a set of manuals/handbooks/guides for implementation of SNA 2008 To discuss and find solutions for technical issues and challenges in the implementation of SNA 2008 in Africa To be carried out by Task Teams of AGNA RECs Methodological Development Countries Pan African Inst.
Capacity Building: Training Self training of AGNA through Task Teams working on technical issues Regional seminars/workshops/meetings to disseminate Manuals/Handbooks/Guides Training of national accountants at national levels by AGNA members RECs Training Countries Pan African Inst.
Capacity Building: Technical Assistance Provided by Pan African Institutions, RECs, Regional National Accounts Advisors upon the request of Member States To countries: lagging behind in the implementation of the 1993 SNA, ICP Africa 2005 non participating countries, and Fragile and Small Developing countries RECs Technical Assistance Inst. Pan African
Institutional Strengthening Through AGNA, to establish commonly agreed timelines, procedures, and standards in the Continent, e.g.: To compile NA statistics according to timeline in respect of the national, sub regional, and regional requirements To optimize and rationalize production and analysis of NA To develop training programs and modules of NA To set up national accountant s profile RECs Institutional Strengthening Countries Pan African Inst.
Advocacy Campaign To organize advocacy at continental, sub regional, and national levels: e.g. through DG meetings, Conference of Ministers, Summits of Heads of States, and parliaments Prepare advocacy materials and tools to publicize and sensitize the usefulness of NA statistics in policy and decision making for governments and publics RECs Advocacy Campaign Countries Pan African Inst.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting To develop tools, framework, and procedure of and to carry out monitoring, evaluation and reporting activities for the implementation of the 2008 SNA It is to be conducted by Pan African Institutions, RECs, and Member States at the Continent, sub regional, and national levels Peer review among countries RECs Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Countries Pan African Inst.
Problems and Challenges: Summary Limited Human, Financial, and Technical Resources. With weak national statistical systems. The national accounting systems are not harmonious yet. Inconsistent and Incomplete Coverage of the Economy. In an early stage of the development of national accounts. SNA Regional ProDoc: Can be summarized on one page as in the Scheme. Six categories of activities highlight all activities in ProDoc. Roles and responsibilities of the Institutional members of AGNA are defined by the contents of the activities.
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