1. The GDDS Project Phase 2 Presented by William E. Alexander
Deputy Director
Statistics Department
International Monetary Fund
Southern African Development Community
Steering Committee Meeting
Durban, South Africa
July 14–16, 2006

2. The Predecessor (Phase 1): “GDDS Project for Anglophone Africa”
Supported development of metadata, and
TA for capacity-building:
Provided
Macroeconomic and financial statistics by IMF
Socio-demographic statistics by World Bank
Well over 200 TA missions to 14 countries
Mid-2002 – mid-2006

3. The Successor Project
The IMF and World Bank jointly administer the project, with macroeconomic and socio-demographic statistics components
“Modules for Strengthening Statistics”
To cover all Anglophone countries in Africa (some 20)
Mid-2006 – mid-2009
US$8 million, funded by DFID

4. GDDS Project for Anglophone Africa Funded by DFID
Phase 1 countries:
Botswana, Eritrea, Ethiopia,
Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho,
Liberia, Malawi, Namibia,
Nigeria, Sierra Leone,
Sudan, Swaziland, Zambia,
and Zimbabwe
New Phase 2 countries:
The Gambia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda

5. Key Features of the Modular Approach
Creation of capacity-building blocks
Structured activities
Commitment to agreed results
Self-help—small groups of countries work together
Enhanced interaction in the region

6. Proposed Success Criteria for the Successor Project
Capacity-building through measurable improvements in agreed areas (modules)
Countries make the development of their statistical system part of their national development strategy
Effective coordination nationally, regionally, and with donors
GDDS continues to provide framework

7. What are modules? Selected priority areas for TA
Well-planned activities
3–5 countries work together
Mutual commitment to agreed results

8. What are the advantages?
Focus on critical improvements
Assured results
Creating building blocks
Enhancing interaction in the region
Providing “hooks” for donor coordination

9. Examples for Modules (IMF)
Real Sector
Better use of existing data for National Accounts, Advance to QNA
Rebase the CPI, introduce the PPI
Financial/Fiscal Statistics
Step-by-step improvements of national data standards
External Sector
Improving the services account of the BOP
BOP surveys
GDDS/SDDS
Graduate to the SDDS
Incorporate capacity-building for statistics into Poverty Reduction Strategies

10. Next Steps Some 8 IMF and 8 World Bank modules to choose from
Launch workshop in late September
Implementation to start with regional module workshops for 3–5 countries
Each country to host some 3 expert visits
Initial set of modules to be completed in
18–30 months