2020 census round raises Africa concern

As African countries are preparing for or carrying out their national censuses as part of the 2020 round of census, the need has arisen for the continent to quickly address major challenges that can hinder delivery of results in an efficient and effective way, says Economic Commission for Africa’s (ECA) William Muhwava.

Some of these challenges include mobilizing resources for census-taking activities, technology use, training and device availability, among others.

Muhwava, Chief of the Demographic and Social Statistics Section at the ECA, said results of the 2020 round are crucial as they would help nations and the continent at large to plan for the rapid growth Africa continues to experience, project future trends and work on improving people’s living conditions, among other plans.

“To ensure the round’s success, it’s vital that all key stakeholders remain committed to the process until its completion, particularly as the round is characterized by a number of emerging challenges, including those relating to the use of innovative technologies.

“That must be addressed as part of an inclusive, consultative and coordinated process involving all relevant actors. Our role as experts is to deliver credible censuses in an efficient and effective way by harnessing the innovative approaches that come our way,” he said.

Speaking during the five-day experts group meeting on supporting electronic data collection and dissemination in censuses on the continent organized by the ECA in partnership with the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics, he gave an overview of the 2020 Round of Population and Housing Census in Africa and the ECA’s role.

According to him, the ECA will provide direct technical support necessary for census planning, management, data collection, processing, analysis, dissemination, help build technical capacity on the different phases of a census operation, and support countries in difficult circumstances to prepare to conduct population and housing censuses.

He added that in line with UN principles of universality, regularity, simultaneity and defined periodicity, ECA aims to increase census coverage on the continent - almost 51 out of 54 countries in Africa will undertake censuses during the 2020 Round which spans from 2015-2024.