MEFMI provides technical assistance to Tanzania on Online Survey Reporting

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused challenges to survey data collection in many of the MEFMI member countries. Traditional face-to-face survey fieldwork activities are difficult to carry out due to the lockdowns and other restrictions. In response to these disruptions, central banks and national statistics offices have had to resort to alternative data sources, and/or explore more innovative methods of collecting survey data requiring minimal or no face-to-face interaction with respondents.

Following these developments, the Bank of Tanzania (BOT) plans to start conducting online enterprise surveys to collect data on foreign investment. As part of this effort, BOT requested MEFMI for technical assistance in developing an online survey reporting tool for use in their 2021 quarterly enterprise survey. The mission was conducted from 12 to 16 July 2021 and was attended by 15 officials
The mission followed a three-pronged approach to deliver its work, namely methodological review of the survey instrument; conceptual training; and development and practical application of the online survey tool. As key outputs, the participants were trained on BPM6 methodological concepts underlying the compilation of foreign investment data and equipped them with knowledge on interpreting financial statements for validation of survey returns. The mission further developed a pre-formatted online template aligned to the current BOT survey questionnaire, which upon completion by the survey respondents would then be uploaded into the MEFMI Private Capital Monitoring System (PCMS). The PCMS is a web-based system that supports member countries with the processing of their survey data on foreign investment into their economies. The mission also developed a Procedures Manual for the BOT team to use as a reference document and help them familiarise with the step-by-step guidelines for using the online tool.
MEFMI stands ready to support other member countries using the PCMS to move to the online survey reporting to ensure continuity in survey data collection. Looking ahead, the move to online survey reporting will present member countries with a more cost-effective and sustainable approach to the collection of data on foreign investment.

The mission was facilitated by a resource team composed of Ms Vivian Namugambe of the MEFMI Secretariat, and two (2) regional IT experts; Mr. Tendo Lubwama and Mr. Dennis Mollel.

Prepared by Vivian Namugambe