This meeting brings together the relevant sectoral directorates of the Commission around a common objective: to review the first draft of the Yearbook, assess the consistency and relevance of the selected indicators, supplement the available data, and finalize the document before submitting it to the Regional Technical Committee (RTC) for approval.
This initiative is part of the implementation of the Projects for the Harmonization and Improvement of Statistics in West Africa (PHASAO) and in West and Central Africa (PHASAOC), funded by the World Bank. It reflects the ECOWAS Commission’s commitment to strengthening the availability, quality, comparability, and accessibility of the statistical data needed to monitor development and regional integration policies and programs.
The proceedings of this technical workshop were officially launched by Mr. Samson Bel-Aube NOUGBODOHOUE, Director of Research and Statistics at the ECOWAS Commission.
In his opening remarks, he emphasized the strategic importance of this initiative for strengthening the regional statistical system and providing decision-makers with reliable, harmonized, and comparable data. He also noted that the completion of this Yearbook represents a significant step in the Commission’s efforts to improve the availability and use of sectoral statistics within member states.
Emphasizing the participants’ collective responsibility for the success of this exercise, Mr. NOUGBODOHOUE urged them to demonstrate rigor and commitment throughout the proceedings. To that end, he stated: “I therefore invite all participants to demonstrate constructive engagement, professional rigor, and a spirit of collaboration so that we may produce a high-quality document that meets the statistical requirements of our community.”
The establishment of a Yearbook of Sectoral Statistics aligns with a strategic direction defined by the Commission as early as 2018, aimed at ensuring comprehensive, centralized, regularly updated, and widely disseminated sectoral data.
It is also part of the effort to implement ECOWAS’s Vision 2050, which places significant emphasis on strengthening national and regional statistical systems to improve the comparability and use of data among member states.
Ultimately, the Commission aims to establish a regional database of sectoral data and ensure the regular publication of an annual statistical bulletin, thereby contributing to a better understanding of the economic and social realities of the ECOWAS region.
The Yearbook of Sectoral Statistics aims to provide an overview of the main economic, social, and environmental trends within the Community. To this end, it compiles indicators covering a wide range of sectors, ranging from the demographic and social characteristics of populations—including demographics, employment, migration, gender, health, and education—to agricultural and environmental activities, such as agriculture, livestock, fisheries, forestry, environmental management, agricultural commodity prices, and consumption. It also takes into account economic factors and infrastructure through data on public finances, the balance of payments, industry, tourism, transportation, and communications.
This integrated approach will provide a more comprehensive statistical overview of the region, while facilitating comparative analysis of member states’ sectoral performance and the development of community policies based on reliable and harmonized data.
To ensure data consistency and the harmonization of calculation methods, the Directorate for Research and Statistics (DRS) established a Technical Working Group (TWG) on sectoral statistics in 2021, in collaboration with the National Institutes of Statistics (NIS) and the Commission’s sectoral directorates. This work culminated in April 2025 with the development of a harmonized questionnaire and a manual for reporting the indicators.
In each member state, three national experts, appointed by the Directors-General of the NSIs, were mobilized to ensure the collection, compilation, and calculation of indicators in the selected areas.
At the conclusion of this process, the Regional Technical Committee (RTC) selected approximately one hundred indicators that form the foundation of the ECOWAS Yearbook of Sectoral Statistics, a first draft of which is now available. This organized meeting of experts marks an important step toward finalizing the Yearbook by allowing the relevant sectoral directorates to review the document, verify the consistency of the indicators, supplement the available data, and provide the necessary feedback, with a view to consolidating the Yearbook and submitting it to the RTC for validation.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
