MEFMI collaborates with AFRITAC West 2 and WAIFEM to build capacity on compiling Quarterly National Accounts

MEFMI collaborates with AFRITAC West 2 and WAIFEM to build capacity on compiling Quarterly National Accounts

Most countries in the MEFMI region are not compiling Quarterly National Accounts (QNA). However, research has shown that Annual National Accounts (ANA) are less suitable than QNA for business cycle analyses because annual data masks short-term economic developments. In-year economic developments are not shown in the ANA. In addition, developments that started in one year and end in the next may not show up in the ANA, compromising the analysis as required by national accounts users. QNA estimates have several good attributes for the region since they provide a quick snapshot of prevailing economic developments much earlier. They are also more comprehensive than what individual short-term indicators can provide. With these attributes, the pressure to produce accurate, comprehensive and reliable QNA estimates in a timely manner for each quarter to satisfy the unique demands of various key stakeholders (e.g. policymakers, business community, researchers, analysts, and forecasters) has grown around the world. In Phase V, MEFMI planned to strengthen its collaboration with other capacity-building institutions to assist member states to achieve their regional integration targets. The collaboration is very useful in helping to deliver coordinated interventions that contribute to the common goal of capacity development in the targeted countries.

It is against this background that MEFMI collaborated with the AFRITAC West 2 and the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM) to conduct a regional workshop to build capacity on the compilation of QNA. Due to COVID-19 induced travel restrictions, the workshop was held virtually during the period 22-26 February 2021. The main objective of the workshop was to introduce participants to the basic compilation of quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimates. The workshop covered indicator selection, benchmarking techniques, and price and volume decomposition. At the end of the workshop, participants were able to identify the steps to prepare quarterly GDP, choose a suitable quarterly indicator, benchmark the quarterly indicator to the annual aggregate, and assess the reliability of quarterly GDP estimates. In the intermediate period, participants are expected to utilise the knowledge acquired in this workshop to compile quarterly GDP in line with international standards.

Of the 72 participants trained, 31 were from the MEFMI region and 41 were from the AFRITAC West 2 and WAIFEM regions combined. In terms of composition, participants from the MEFMI region were made up of 12 (or 39 percent of the total) females and 19 (61 percent) males. This representation is reflective of gender disparities within the represented member countries. As is the case with all other events, deliberate efforts were made to encourage countries to balance gender in the nominations.
The IMF AFRITAC West 2 provided the resource team which was made up of Ms Elirjeta Pepaj, Ms Pamela Audi, Mr. Francis Mensah, Mr. Dominic Odoom, and Ibrahim Tanko.

Prepared by Senei Molapo