Eba Kandovazu
THE Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) is launching a new partnership with the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) that aims to strengthen statistical capabilities.
Last week, Statistician-General, Alex Shimuafeni, together with Charlotte Fenton, the Deputy British High Commissioner signed the memorandum of understanding on behalf of the ONS at NSA’s head office in Windhoek.
“The new partnership sees the NSA and ONS work closely together to share skills and provide practical support and advice. The Memorandum of Understanding will support Namibia in becoming a leader in 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,” NSA Spokesperson Nelson Ashipala said.
“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,” Shimuafeni added.
“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,” the UK’s National Statistician, Ian Diamond said at the signing ceremony.
The official launch of the peer-to-peer partnership follows several 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, Ottilie Mwazi, and Data Analyst and Data Processing Manager, Tuli Amuntenya travelled to the UK to visit the ONS in 2019,” Ashipala stated.
