USE OF ADMINISTRATIVE
DATA AND BUSINESS
REGISTERS-THE NEED FOR
STRATEGIC PLANNING
Presenter
Philip S. Amara
Sunday, July 24,
2016
Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J.
Momoh Street, Freetown,
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
Sunday, July 24,
2016
Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J.
Momoh Street, Freetown,
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.
Sunday, July 24,
2016
Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J.
Momoh Street, Freetown,
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.
Sunday, July 24,
2016
Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J.
Momoh Street, Freetown,
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
Sunday, July 24,
2016
Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J.
Momoh Street, Freetown,
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.
Sunday, July 24,
2016
Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J.
Momoh Street, Freetown,
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
Sunday, July 24,
2016
Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J.
Momoh Street, Freetown,
7
The Need for Strategic
Planning Cont.
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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.
This led to the;
establishment of the National Statistical Advisory and
Coordinating Council,
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.
Sunday, July 24,
2016
Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J.
Momoh Street, Freetown,
8
The Need for Strategic
Planning Cont.
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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
Sunday, July 24,
2016
Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J.
Momoh Street, Freetown,
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
Sunday, July 24,
2016
Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J.
Momoh Street, Freetown,
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 1day workshops for junior staff of SSL and the workshop for
producers of statistics outside of SSL.
•
Sunday, July 24,
2016
Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J.
Momoh Street, Freetown,
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
Sunday, July 24,
2016
Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J.
Momoh Street, Freetown,
12
End
• Thank you for Your Attention
Sunday, July 24,
2016
Statistics Sierra Leone, A.J.
Momoh Street, Freetown,
13