Labour Force Data Analysis: Guidelines with African Specificities

This guidebook directed at labour statistics practitioners in national statistics offices and policy analysts in development, economic and labour ministries, as well as those in central banks. It deals with the concepts and definitions of the economically active population (EAP); presents methods for analysing data from labour force surveys, from descriptive analysis used in the production of a survey report to analysis of labour force structures and trends that are particularly useful in analytical studies; and discusses methods for assessing the quality of a labour force survey. The Guidebook was prepared within the Statistical Capacity Building Program II of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in consultation with its regional member countries based on country practices and experiences.

http://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Publications/Labour%20Force%20Data%20Analysis_WEB.pdf

PICHA MBALIMBALI ZA MKUTANO WA AFDB ARUSHA

Rais Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete akifungua Mkutano wa Mkuu wa Mwaka wa Bodi ya Magavana wa Benki ya Africa afDB katika ukumbi wa AICC jijini Arusha leo Mei 31. 2012

Ukumbi wa AICC wakati wa Rais Jakaya Kikwete alipokuwa akifungua Mkutano wa Mkuu wa Mwaka wa Bodi ya Magavana wa Benki ya Africa afDB katika ukumbi wa AICC jijini Arusha leo Mei 31. 20

Rais Kikwete akiwa na Rais wa Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara, Rais Mstaafu wa Botswana Mh Festus Moghae, Rais wa Benki ya Africa Dkt Donald Kaberuka, Mshauri wa Mfalme wa Morroco Bw Omar Kabbaj (kushoto) , Waziri wa Fedha Dkt William Mgimwa (wa pili kuhsoto) katika picha ya pamoja na Marais wastaafu wa Benki ya Afrika.Picha na IKULU

African Stakeholders Want Governments to Take Action to Stem Drought

Some African stakeholders on Monday at the ongoing Africa Development Bank (AFDB), annual meetings in Arusha, Tanzania, said that Africa was paying lip service to the age-old issue of drought and its economic consequence.

They said that their consensus stemmed from the static position of drought related initiatives in the continent in the past three decades.

The stakeholders drawn from AFDB, East African Economic Commission, ECOWAS and the private sector, also warned that drought has assumed a continental dimension contrary to earlier regional concerns.

Addressing a cross section of participants on the theme, "Drought Crisis and Food Insecurity in Africa: In Search of a Cure, Abdirahman Beileh, AFDB Acting Director said that lack of political will by the various African states government had made development partners effort ineffective.

"Apart from the lack of political will from the various African governments, poor coordination, absence of drought policy harmonisation and the question of peace and stability were also obstacles affecting drought management in the continent," Beileh said.

Madam Anah Abdulkadri, an Ethiopian consultant on drought management, said that the changing global environment and its effect on agriculture make it imperative for African government to declare a sustainable inclusive plan of action.

Abdulkadri, a former member of Ethiopian parliament said the unchecked effect of the continental drought on food security has made it a major impediment to Africa's sustainable development and growth.

"We now need visible proactive implementation of drought policy action plans and not the usual talk shop. We must depart from doing business as usual by seeking harmonisation of the age long identified programmes to free our people from poverty and diseases," she said.

Mahbouh Moalim, Executive Secretary, inter-Governmental Authority on Development, said that funding and sustainable management of resources were the major problem in checking the dangers of drought in the African economic value chain.

"Having things done in a timely and a coordinated manner through the existing policy framework remains the only way forward in tackling African drought problem and ensuring continental food security," Moalim said.

Dr Hammadou Mahalmoudu of the Niger-based CLSS order in West Africa said that the nongovernmental organisation (NGOs')' fix dated approach to the issue of drought negates the overall development needs of Africans.

"In West Africa where most of the NGOs' operate, we noticed that their fix dated approach is driven more by the amount of money they would earn and not development or building sustainable capacity," Mahalmoudu said.

AFDB Vice-President Kamal El kheshen said that the focus was on collaborating with member states and development partners in seeking innovative management approach to drought related problem in Arica.

"We belief that the issue of skill, technology driven production and increasing the valued added to African goods remain our priority," he said.

Contacts

Felix Njoku

Private Sector Key to Africa's Growth, Says 2012 African Development Report

Most African countries have come to recognize the critical role that the private sector can play to help the continent reach its full economic and social potential, according to the 2011 African Development Report of the African Development Bank (AfDB) launched in Arusha.

Focused on private sector as the engine of Africa's economic development, the report examines the challenges facing the sector's development and highlights ways to address these challenges, taking country differences into account.

"After being hamstrung for decades by difficult political and economic conditions and burdensome government policies, it is now poised to become the main engine of growth for the African continent," says AfDB president, Donald Kaberuka. in the report. The report ends with a discussion of the AfDB's role in support of private sector development in Africa.

"The African Development Bank is committed to addressing the constraints on private sector development.

We believe that private sector development is fundamental for creating inclusive growth through employment creation.

"The private sector is also a provider of essential goods and services to the public, and a key source of the revenues that African countries need to meet their development challenges," he adds.

Having promoted development of the sector for more than 40 years, the AfDB has made private sector development one of the four priorities of its Medium Term Strategy (MTS) for 2008-12, along with infrastructure, governance, and higher education.

In order to generate a greater developmental impact, the AfDB is integrating private sector development across all its operations with threefold objectives.

According to the report, they are: supporting regional member countries in improving business enabling environments, and strengthening their international competitiveness; broadening participation and inclusion in the private sector and supporting local enterprise development for spurring robust employment creation and improving social well-being; and encouraging the embedment of social and environmental responsibility, sustainability, and good corporate citizenship in private sector development.

Though the private sector helps reduce poverty, reliable statistics on private sector activities in African countries are scarce. Most of the activities are informal, carried out by micro, small and medium enterprises.

Among its other findings, the report says laws and regulations critical for private sector development and corporate governance were undermined by poor monitoring and enforcement.

"Developing Africa's infrastructure at the pace necessary to unleash its economic potential requires a concerted effort to improve planning, preparation, and procurement capacities in line ministries and relevant sector units; mobilize financial resources; and adopt a regional approach to infrastructure development," says the report.

Africa's private sector accounted for more than 80 percent of total production, two-thirds of total investment, and three-fourths of total credit to the economy over the 1996-2008 period. It was also responsible for 90 percent of formal and informal employment.

Although the private sector in African countries faces common challenges, the impact of these constraints varies according to the stage of economic development. Fundamentally, the constraints include insufficient transport networks and lack of access to power and finance.

Challenges also differ by type of firm, with large companies being more concerned about corruption, skill shortages and labour regulations, while export-oriented businesses place tax administration at the top of their list.

"These systemic factors are of less importance for small firms, which find the lack of access to (and high cost of) finance, insufficient collateral, and the business owner's limited technical, management, and accounting skills to be more binding. The most severe challenge for microenterprises is access to finance, with those in AfDB countries also constrained by business licensing procedures," the report points out.

Contacts

Felix Njoku