COMMISSIONER KALILOU SYLLA MEETS WITH SENEGALESE OFFICIALS TO DISCUSS STATISTICAL DATA ISSUES

The Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, Dr Kalilou Sylla, believes that it is impossible to make sound economic decisions in West Africa without reliable and up-to-date statistical data at national and regional level.

Accompanied by members of his cabinet and the Acting Director of Research and Statistics at the ECOWAS Commission, Prof. Félix Fofana N’Zué, and the manager and consultant in charge of demographic and social statistics for the Project for the Harmonisation and Improvement of Statistics in West and Central Africa (PHASAOC), Baba Ndiaye and Ibrahim Samaila Issa, respectively, Dr. Kalilou Sylla met on Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 January 2026 in Dakar, Senegal, with officials from that country responsible for statistical issues.

These included the Secretary General of the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Cooperation, Mouhamadou Bamba Diop, the technical coordinator of PHASAOC in Senegal, Meïssa Ndour, the director of the Centre for Applied Economic Research at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar (CREA/UCAD), Prof. Awa Traoré Diaw, and the Director General of Senegal’s National Agency for Statistics and Demography (ANSD), Abdou Diouf.

Discussions between the ECOWAS Commission delegation and these various officials focused mainly on the need for the regional organisation and its member states to have reliable and up-to-date statistical data. To this end, particular emphasis was placed on the collection, processing, analysis and harmonisation of these data, with the ultimate aim of providing the West African region with a modern, reliable and harmonised statistical system to support its economic and social development.

The members of the ECOWAS Commission delegation and their hosts also discussed the design of methodological guides, methods for calculating national and regional indicators, capacity building for West African statisticians, and support for the national statistical institutes of these States in the production of quality statistical data.

Both at the National Agency for Statistics and Demography of Senegal (ANSD) and at the Centre for Applied Economic Research at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar (CREA/UCAD), discussions also focused on the ECOWAS Commission’s proposal to establish a partnership with these two entities with a view to producing and promoting statistical and demographic data.

During their visit to the Director General of the ANSD, the members of the ECOWAS Commission delegation attended a presentation on the status of implementation, results achieved and constraints, as well as the priorities and prospects for Senegal’s PHASAOC for the year 2026.

It should be noted that the PHASAOC, funded by the World Bank, aims to improve statistical performance, regional harmonisation, access to and use of data, and to strengthen the modernisation of the statistical system in participating countries.