KATUNGE KIILU: Celebrating African Statistics Day

African Statistics Day is celebrated annually on November 18 to raise public awareness on the importance of statistics in all aspects of life.

The theme of this year’s celebration is ‘Modernizing data ecosystems to accelerate the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA): The role of official statistics and Big Data in the economic transformation and sustainable development of Africa.’

As the government agency for the development, production and dissemination of statistics across the National Statistical System, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) contributes to this year’s theme by rallying stakeholders in this observance and highlighting achievements in statistical production.

Some of the strides KNBS has realized include harnessing the opportunities presented by Big Data in the production of official statistics.

For instance, collaboration with producers of Big Data such as KRA and CBK to utilize information to measure short-term economic performance at the national and county levels, in the form of quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross County Product (GCP).

The KNBS is focused on building the capacity of county governments to produce county-specific statistics.

These statistics are compiled into County Statistical Abstracts, which guide planning and development agenda in the counties, through the County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs).

Currently, Makueni, Laikipia, Nyandarua, Nakuru, Kericho and Uasin Gishu counties have developed County Statistical Abstracts.

Bungoma, Mombasa and Makueni counties have established statistics departments, which are structures for the production of statistics.

The process of collaborating with Big Data players in the private sector, namely, telecommunication, retail trade and satellite imagery, has been initiated to fill existing data gaps, especially in monitoring the SDGs.

Efforts by the KNBS to modernize Kenya’s data ecosystem by expanding the scope to incorporate non-state actors into the data ecosystem.

Data produced by Civil Society Organizations is subjected to validation criteria to ensure it is of quality for official reporting, especially on the SGD indicators.

Modernizing the data ecosystem has enabled the engendering of small-scale trade. This makes it possible to analyze trade within the dynamics of gender, which is critical to determine ownership of enterprises, hence empowerment of women.

Coordination of the National Statistical System (NSS) is essential to streamline statistics, reduce duplication, give impetus to communication, dissemination and advocacy for statistics, and ensure sound methodology is applied across the data value chain.

This coordination is outlined in the Kenya Strategy for Development of Statistics (KSDS), which is the masterplan for statistics in the country.

In guiding the production of official statistics across the data ecosystem, the KSDS supports the government development agenda, the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).

To support the production of statistics, the KNBS has partnered with multilateral organizations and established supporting infrastructure to enable bi-lateral arrangements. Some of our partners are the World Bank, IMF, UN institutions, Africa Union Commission (AUC), EU, AfDB, COMESA, EAC, Statistics Sweden, UK Office of National Statistics and the US Census Bureau.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes international trade as an engine for inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction, and an important means to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

By accelerating the implementation of the AfCFTA and harnessing Big Data Kenya tracks implementation of SDGs.

The KNBS will lead this year’s celebration in Bungoma County.

Katunge Kiilu is Head of Communication at the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.