Posted on April 7, 2016 by iMFdirect

By Carla Grasso

If there’s one thing all economists can agree on, it’s the importance of numbers. Without good data, it is difficult to assess how an economy is performing and formulate smart policies that help improve lives.

In little over twenty years, the southern African country of Mozambique has gone from having no national accounts or consumer price index to creating one of the leading statistical agencies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

I saw firsthand Mozambique’s progress in collecting data on my recent trip to Africa. It was my first trip there as an official representative of the IMF. I met with Isaltina Lucas, the then-President of Mozambique’s Institute of Statistics (and now Vice-Minister of Economy and Finance), who told me about the government’s impressive strides in compiling key economic statistics—thanks, in part, to the IMF.

Over the course of my 10-day visit in early March, I saw many more instances of how IMF technical assistance and training—which together we call “capacity development”—is helping policymakers in sub-Saharan Africa take charge of their own economic future.

Tapping the experience of peers

In Tanzania, for example, I witnessed a workshop organized jointly by the IMF and the central bank, where officials from across the region discussed their own countries’ experiences with expanding access to finance and exchanged views on how to deal with financial vulnerabilities that are emerging as a result. Many participants emphasized the importance of this type of experience-sharing—known as “peer-to-peer learning”—in building capacity.

We are hearing more and more that the knowledge-sharing that takes place outside formal courses is important for capacity development. So we have been exploring ways to cultivate peer learning and support, both in person and online. Through such platforms, policymakers facing similar challenges can not only learn from each other but also set common policy goals.

Such efforts are beginning to bear fruit.  Take, for example, Senegal, which is successfully using peer learning to implement its new development strategy with the goal of becoming an emerging market economy within the next two decades. Senegal is drawing on the experience of policymakers in Cape Verde, Mauritius, and Seychelles to introduce tax identification numbers, set up credit information bureaus, and develop tourism and special economic zones.

Click to read full article “Capacity Development in Africa: the Faces behind the Numbers”

Culled—— iMFdirect