ZamStats plan for evidence-based policy formulation

KETRA KALUNGA writes THE Zambia Statistics Agency says the National Strategy for Development of Statistics which is being drafted would help improve the statistical capacity responsive to the ever-changing demands of the country. Statistician-General, Mulenga Musepa said once implemented the strategy would enable the country to come up with evidence-based policy formulation which is cardinal in improving the welfare of the people. Mr. Musepa said in an interview that the strategy would also help the country improve its statistical capacity which he said was currently low compared to other countries in Africa. He said according to the World Bank ranking for 2019, Zambia was not lagging behind in data collection and analysis and was standing at 53.6 percent compared to Egypt which was highest with 86.6 percent followed by Malawi at 79.3 percent. “The National Strategy for Development of Statistics (NSDS) No.2 is important for managing the modern-day society, Zambia needs good statistics to make decisions based on evidence,” said Mr. Musepa. He said having a statistical capacity which is the country’s ability to collect statistics required, makes it easy for the country to plan for the development of the country. Mr Musepa said the strategy was a tool for the development of an Integrated National Statistical Strategy which would enable the country to collect and process relevant statistics to inform policies. He said the agency was working with other institutions among them the Bank of Zambia, Zambia Revenue Authority, Ministry of Finance, Local government, Labour and Livestock. The Sun