The National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u has urged institutions to leverage quality and accurate statistical data for effective government planning.

Speaking in Nairobi, yesterday, Prof Ndung’u said accurate and timely statistics are essential for economic development and the implementation of development strategies in the continent.

“To fully implement and monitor progress on numerous economic development plans, decision-makers need data and statistics that are accurate, timely, sufficiently disaggregated, relevant, accessible, and easy to use,” he stated at the launch during a two-day Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) statistics meeting.

While recognizing improvements in data availability and quality over the years,  Ndung’u advised that statistical capacity in Kenya and the region still requires strengthening.

“Data literacy must be enhanced at all levels of decision-making, and it’s a fact that those who can’t analyse facts are left far behind,” he noted at the hybrid event where IGAD also launched a Yearbook.

Ndung’u said no country can evaluate, predict, or assess development without quality data. 

“This is an excellent tool for policymakers to aid them in tracking progress. It also helps to make policy choices, monitoring, and evaluation,” he said.

The government, according to Ndung’u, has made significant strides in ensuring the availability of quality evidence through the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

“It is expected that the joint collection and sharing of data between regional institutions will promote wider use of country data, reduce costs, and significantly improve the quality of the data,” he said.