Namibian statisticians team up with UK colleagues as NSA strives to become a leader of statistical modernisation in Africa

Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) is launching a new partnership with the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) that aims to strengthen statistical capabilities.

Statistician-General Mr Alex Shimuafeni welcomed Charlotte Fenton, the Deputy British High Commissioner, who signed the memorandum of understanding on behalf of the ONS at NSA’s head office in Windhoek on Thursday March 23, 2021.

The new partnership will see the NSA and ONS work closely together to share skills and provide practical support and advice.

The ONS will support Namibia in becoming a leader of statistical modernisation, helping other statistical organisations in return. The two organisations will work together to build Namibia’s capability in data collection and analysis and prepare for the next census that will for the first time use digital technology instead of paper questionnaires.

The census is one of the most important statistical operations. Information from the census helps the government and non-government organisations to plan and fund local services, such as education, doctors' surgeries and roads.

The UK’s National Statistician Sir Ian Diamond said: “I am delighted that the ONS will join forces with NSA to support statistical modernisation in Namibia and help the nation’s decision makers better harness the power of data to improve lives.”

Mr Shimuafeni added: “This is a really proud moment for NSA. I am excited to officially launch this partnership with the UK’s ONS and look forward to working together with them over the coming years.”The official launch of this peer-to-peer partnership follows several successful projects completed between the two organisations, including the development of analysis tools to better understand the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The ONS is a world leader in producing independent official statistics and has similar partnerships across the continent, including with the UN’s Economic Commission for Africa, Ghana Statistical Service, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and the National Institute of Statistics Rwanda.

The signing event comes after Deputy Statistician-General Ms Ottilie Mwazi and Data Analyst and Data Processing Manager Ms Tuli Amuntenya travelled to the UK to visit the ONS in 2019.

For more information about NSA’s work, visit: NSA.org.na

For information on the ONS, visit: ONS.gov.uk