The Chamber of Deputies on Monday, July 25, approved the ratification of a financing agreement with the Worlds Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) amounting to Rwf56 billion. It involves a grant of SDR 21.6 million (about Rwf28.5 billion) and a credit facility amounting to €26.8 million (over Rwf28.1 billion). The support is part of IDA’s regional project, dubbed, ‘Eastern Africa Regional Statistics Programme for Results’. Claudine Uwera, the Minister of State in charge of Economic Planning, told lawmakers during a plenary session Monday the regional statistics programme aims at strengthening the harmonisation, dissemination and use of core economic and social statistics. It covers three countries, namely; Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania. Uwera later told The New Times the funding will help upgrade Rwanda’s statistics. The financing, she said, will support the country to implement its national strategy for the development of statistics (phase three), which covers 2019-2024. The idea is to improve statistics coverage, frequency, timeliness, and quality, she noted. “This means we will be producing statistics to support evidence-based decision making.” The minister added, “We intend to deepen statistical impact and to build statistical capacity in the national statistical system.” ‘Demand for statistics is growing’ The funding will also help promote statistics that reflect advancement in technology through use of modern data tools, she said. “Demand for statistics is growing because we need to have evidence-based decision-making,” she explained. Yusuf Murangwa, Director General, National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), said the WB-IDA funding will support “effective statistics production and use”. “It will help us further improve and build capacity in statistics. The statistics we produce help us a lot in planning and when planning is effective, it leads to development and improvement of people’s welfare,” he told The New Times. “We produce various statistics, including in economy, agriculture, labour market, education, living conditions, and state of poverty,” said. National population census Meanwhile, Murangwa noted that the national survey on poverty rate in the country was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, adding that it will be carried out next year. He recalled that the country will undertake the national population census next month, from August 16-30. “When such funding is available, it helps us,” he said, referring to IDA’s support. Murangwa said the initiative was an important contribution toward building capacity in statistics. He said the support will benefit public entities and decision-makers, as well as the private sector, including tertiary institutions and civil society.
