To enhance data collection: National Institute of Statistics recommits to further modernise system.

The institution took the fresh commitment in Yaounde January 25. This was during the annual meeting of the structure’s centralised and devolved services. 

It was organised under the theme: “Modernisation of the National Statistical Information System, SNIS to support the Cameroonian economy amidst shocks: moving towards the NSDD”.

The gathering was chaired by the Director General of the National Institute of Statistics, Joseph Tedou. 

The event was as one of three separate activities organised by the institution yesterday. Others included New Year wishes ceremony and an event to hand over labour medals to meritorious staff. 

Modernisation, boosting foreign investment 

During the annual meeting, discussions among others, focused on how the National Institute of Statistics can benefit from the implementation of the World Bank’s financing project on Harmonising and Improving on Statistics in West and Central Africa known by its acronym as HISWACA.

Presentations also dwelled on level of work done in the development of performance indicators for monitoring the National Development Strategy, SND30, and local development plans. 

This, in a joint bid dedicated to enable the institution to meet its target of attaining the decisive Special Data Dissemination Standard, SNDD.

Speaking to the press after deliberations, the Head of Division in charge of African Cooperation and Research, Abanda Ambroise, said the modernisation efforts will enable the institution to meet the standard which is instituted by the International Monetary Fund, IMF. 

The initiative allows countries that meet the benchmark to demonstrate the credibility of their domestic market and open up their economies to international markets more easily. 

He said the institution is intentionally focused on attaining the status as a bold step towards boosting the Cameroonian economy and enhancing national development by presenting Cameroon as a country that is transparent, reliable, accessible and has comparability of a national system’s economic and financial statistics by 2020-2030.

“Statistics is a key tool in decision making. The culture of statistics is not well presented all over our administration,” Abanda said.

“Modernising the system will permit us to build the capacities of all the stakeholders and will help us to reinforce the infrastructures in all the administrations in other for us to better accompany the government and the international partner for them to achieve their respective goals,” he detailed.

The official said the institution will strive to attain the goal by putting in place modern facilities in their respective areas of operation. 

“To be able to meet the standard, we need to meet some key indicators. If we reach that standard, at the level of the international economy, we will be able to have access to certain facilities in terms of gaining international support to our economy,” the North West Regional Chief of Agency National Institute of Statistics, Fotue Njomou Sébastien, added.

In the last 13 years, the National Institute of Statistics, it was revealed, has produced three generations of the National Strategy Document for the Development of Statistics, NSDS.

The project is expected to build on the solid foundation laid by the NSDS scheme.

Staff urged to maintain spirit of hard work 

Speaking at the end of the gathering, the institution’s Director General congratulated his staff for their selfless efforts shown over the years.

He urged the staff to remain dedicated in the discharge of their duties.

The DG stated that he is hopeful the institution will continue getting the necessary supports and collaboration from partner organs to facilitate its task as it has been in recent years.

DG, Deputy get 2024 best wishes

After the meeting, staff of the institution extended New Year wishes to the Director General of the institution, Joseph Tedou and his Deputy.

During the brief event, he held short charts with the staff, urging them to keep on with the spirit of hard work.

Meritorious staff honored

Besides the annual meeting and the New Year wishes ceremony, yesterday’s ceremony also featured award of labour medals to some 30 meritorious staff and former staff of the institution.

They bagged medals for their decades of selfless and outstanding service to the nation. The recipients were decorated by the Senior Divisional Officer of Mfoundi, Emmanuel Mariel Djikdent.

The senior civil administrator congratulated the laureates for their selfless service to the country. He urged those still in active service to consolidate the spirit, challenging those still to attain the level to use the laureates as sources of motivation.