Monday, April 27, 2020

USE OF ADMINISTRATIVE DATA AND BUSINESS REGISTERS-THE NEED FOR STRATEGIC PLANNING

Presenter Philip S. Amara

Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J. Momoh Street, Freetown, Sierra Leone 1

Administrative Data Sources.

• Administrative Sources provide a means of updating the Business Register • Eg. In Sierra Leone Administrative Lists from the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT), The National Revenue Authority(NRA), Sierra Leone Tourist Board, the Office of the Registrar of Businesses in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Sierra Leone Export Development and Investment Corporation(SLEDIC) provide the means of updating the Business Register Monday, April 27, 2020 Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J. Momoh Street, Freetown, Sierra Leone 2

Use of Business Registers

• Business Register is the most credible sample frame for surveys in economic statistics • National Directory of business establishments that gives snapshot of the business structure of the economy • A central Business Register is less costly to operate than the maintenance of numerous local business frames within each statistical unit. Monday, April 27, 2020 Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J. Momoh Street, Freetown, Sierra Leone 3

The Need for Strategic Planning

• One weakness of the Statistics System in Sierra Leone is the lack of coordination of the statistical activities of various data generating agencies.

• Low budgetary support hindered the ability of the statistics office to perform its functions and meet the needs of users. • Low staff salaries was a source of de-motivation which brought about a gradual depletion of trained and qualified statisticians and programmers. • The statistical framework , infrastructure, business register, population statistics etc deteriorated and there was a rundown in physical infrastructure.

• The absence clear strategy for the development of statistics led to the lost of public trust and confidence in CSO. Monday, April 27, 2020 Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J. Momoh Street, Freetown, Sierra Leone 4

The Need for Strategic Planning Cont.

• Over time, statistical units in the form of planning units were established in many Ministries and Departments • Government budgetary allocations for statistical activities was divided among the various departments. • The compilation of detailed sector statistics

became the responsibility of the line ministries

• Some of the traditional survey research

functions of a statistics office were gradually taken over by the sector ministries

Monday, April 27, 2020 Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J. Momoh Street, Freetown, Sierra Leone 5

The Need for Strategic Planning Cont.

• The existence of statistical units in the various Departments is not in itself a problem. • The problem is the lack of coordination between institutions • Lack of Coordination leads to duplications of efforts and waste of money and human resources. • There is no nation-wide accepted standardized, concepts, definitions and classifications of statistical products that could ensure consistency and comparability. • Administrative sources of data are fragmented, varied in format and content and therefore unreliable.

Monday, April 27, 2020 Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J. Momoh Street, Freetown, Sierra Leone 6

The Need for Strategic Planning Cont.

• The planning units lack capacity and over the years has become defunct. • Budgetary allocation for statistical activities has not been used for the intended purpose.

• Ten year conflict in Sierra Leone destroy social and economic infrastructure. • Most buildings including Government Ministries were either burnt or vandalized. • Data housed in most of these buildings was lost or data files damaged. • The consequence is fragmented administrative data Monday, April 27, 2020 Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J. Momoh Street, Freetown, Sierra Leone 7

The Need for Strategic Planning Cont.

• • • This led to the; • establishment of the National Statistical Advisory and Coordinating Council, • IMF Macroeconomic Statistics Mission (June 1998) discovered that there was no effective coordination of the compilation of statistical data in the country The mission proposed a set of coherent structural reforms to build an institutional capacity for the restructuring of the national statistical system, and coordinated production, of official statistics.

• the drafting and adoption of the 2002 Statistics Act, giving rise to what is now known as Statistics Sierra Leone (SSL), the establishment of the Statistics Sierra Leone Council, the National Statistical Coordinating Committee, the National Census Advisory Committee, • the appointment of a Statistician General and • the successful commencement of the Development of the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics. Monday, April 27, 2020 Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J. Momoh Street, Freetown, Sierra Leone 8

The Need for Strategic Planning Cont.

• The uncoordinated statistical system was identified by the IMF as a structural problem that should be corrected for which a structural performance benchmark was set. • • National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) due to be completed in November 2007 makes provision for Statistics Sierra Leone to play its role as mandated by its legal powers.

to resuscitate the planning units and coordinate the statistical activities of the line ministries. • Statistics Sierra Leone will recruit, train , deploy and manage Statisticians in the various ministries and departments to perform the statistical functions in these departments. • Where statistics units do not already exist, SSL will work to create them, staff them and train their staff. • A new era of partnership and cooperation will be opened up by this development. • A Committee will be established by SSL to help manage this new structure.

• Budgets to govt agencies and departments for statistical activities will come under the supervision of the Statistician General Monday, April 27, 2020 Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J. Momoh Street, Freetown, Sierra Leone 9

The Need for Strategic Planning Cont.

• Several constraints need to be addressed to built • institutional capacity at SSL.

• inadequate Government financial support attitude of some stakeholders • inadequate training facilities for staff at all levels, • logistical constraints in the offices, • inability of SSL to coordinate statistical activities in the country, • poor Conditions of Service at SSL, • inadequate publicity and advocacy • NSDS is needed to addressed these issues Monday, April 27, 2020 Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J. Momoh Street, Freetown, Sierra Leone 10

The Need for Strategic Planning Cont.

• NSDS is important because • It help to build consensus for change. • help an institution identify its key stakeholders, • develop a vision and strategy and mobilize resources for implementing the plan • It helps the organization analysis its strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT). • SWOT analysis show actions that can be taken to build on the strengths, repair the weaknesses, take advantage of the opportunities and eliminate the threats. • NSDS in Sierra Leone has already passed through three stages of discussion and consensus building.

• SWOT Analysis” was undertaken on the Statistics System during the two-day workshop for all senior staff, the subsequent two 1 day workshops for junior staff of SSL and the workshop for producers of statistics outside of SSL. • Monday, April 27, 2020 Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J. Momoh Street, Freetown, Sierra Leone 11

The Need for Strategic Planning Cont.

• The next stages are the consultative provincial meetings with local council administrators • meetings with permanent secretaries and ministers of government and finally the donors conference. • Already there is a consensus on the need to establish a strong and unified National Statistical System comprising SSL and statistics units in MDA • The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the national statistics system are been discussed and a consensus on the way forward is been developed Monday, April 27, 2020 Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J. Momoh Street, Freetown, Sierra Leone 12

End • Thank you for Your Attention

Monday, April 27, 2020 Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J. Momoh Street, Freetown, Sierra Leone 13