Malawi Government
NATIONAL STATISTICAL OFFICE
PRESS RELEASE
On behalf of the Government of Malawi, the National Statistical Office (NSO) wishes to inform the general public that 18th November 2021 is African Statistics Day. Every year on 18th November, Malawi joins all African countries in commemorating African Statistics Day to raise public awareness of the importance of statistics in all aspects of the social and economic life of countries in Africa. The NSO will celebrate the 2022 African Statistics day at Dedza Stadium in Dedza district.
This year’s theme is: “Modernizing National Statistical Systems to support socio-cultural development in Africa.” The theme raises awareness among decision-makers, technical and financial partners, data producers, researchers and the general public about the critical importance of data and statistics on the cultural and creative economy in the process of building back better and more inclusively, post COVID-19 pandemic. The theme is in tandem with the theme of the African Union for the year 2021, “Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want”.
Promotion of local culture, natural heritage and patrimony, and their linkages with sustainable tourism occupy an important place in the Sustainable Development Goals and their contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Amidst economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, National Statistical Systems (NSS) in the country must transform and modernize to be better equipped to provide data and statistics, supporting socio-economic and cultural development in Africa. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on NSS in Malawi has been big and related to financial, operational, and methodological issues among others. The pandemic has accelerated the quest for transformation and modernization of the NSS. With assistance and support from partners, NSS has developed and used alternative methods for data collection such as telephonic surveys, online, web scrapping and usage of administrative data.
The National Statistical Office (NSO) wishes to invite all policymakers, development program planners and implementers in the public sector, business and non-governmental organizations, the academia and research institutions to reflect on this year’s theme of the African Statistics Day, as the country continues in its social and economic development agenda.
Mercy Kanyuka (Ms)
Commissioner of Statistics
National Statistics Office
Issued on 17th November 2021 by National Statistical Office, P.O. Box 333, Zomba, Malawi Tel: +265 524 377/111 Fax: +265 525 130 E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Website: www.nsomalawi.mw
