Statistical chiefs from across West Africa gathered in Monrovia on Monday for a five-day ECOWAS training programme, running October 5 to 9, 2026, to strengthen leadership and management in the region’s national statistical systems.
The workshop is run by the ECOWAS Commission through its Department of Economic Affairs and Agriculture and sits under the World Bank-funded Project for the Harmonisation and Improvement of Statistics in West and Central Africa, known as HISWACA.
Participants include managers from National Statistical Offices and National Statistical Systems in ECOWAS member states and Mauritania, alongside staff from the West African Monetary Agency, the West African Monetary Institute and technical staff of the ECOWAS Commission.
The curriculum is built around what the Commission describes as modern skills for leading teams, navigating an evolving data ecosystem and improving the quality and effectiveness of national statistical systems.
Liberia’s statistics chief used the opening to press the case for institutional integrity.
Richard Fatorma Ngafuan, Director General of the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services, welcomed the regional training as an important step for statistical leadership and pointed to a longstanding partnership between LISGIS and ECOWAS on statistical capacity.
He said leaders need to uphold statistical integrity, drive institutional performance, manage change, take on digital transformation and the responsible use of artificial intelligence, and communicate effectively with decision-makers and the public.
Stronger statistical leadership, he said, is essential to institutions that produce reliable, credible and trusted statistics for evidence-based decision-making.
Ambassador Mohammed Kenewui Konneh, ECOWAS Resident Representative in Liberia, told the opening session that effective leadership is essential to building strong, credible and professional national statistical systems.
He cited ECOWAS progress in harmonising statistical frameworks and methodologies while naming persistent challenges: leadership capacity, human and technical resources, data production and accessibility, and the politicisation of official statistics.
Capable managers, he said, are critical to translating regional standards into national implementation, protecting the independence and integrity of official statistics and improving institutional performance.
Sherif Torey, Director of Research and Statistics at the West African Monetary Institute, said reliable, timely and comparable statistics are essential for sound economic policymaking and regional integration.
He pointed to growing responsibilities at national statistical offices and the need for managers to pair technical expertise with strong leadership, effective resource management, innovation and adherence to professional standards.
Speaking on behalf of Dehpue Yenpea Zuo, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, the Commission’s Director of Research and Statistics, Samson Bel-Aube Nougbodohoue, underscored the role of leadership and management in building credible, responsive and professional statistical systems.
He said growing demand for reliable, timely and comparable data requires statistical leaders to strengthen institutional capacity, embrace innovation and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, and safeguard the professional independence and integrity of official statistics.
Nougbodohoue called on participants to turn the training into institutional improvement, saying: “The success of this workshop will ultimately be measured not only by what we learn here, but by what we do with that knowledge when we return to our institutions.”
Liberia’s government was represented by Henry D.Z. Yanquoi, Assistant Minister for Economic Policy, speaking for Finance and Development Planning Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan.
Yanquoi described the ECOWAS Country Report on Liberia as an important instrument for evidence-based policymaking and regional development, and outlined Liberian efforts under the “ARREST Agenda” for Inclusive Development covering fiscal management, revenue mobilisation, infrastructure, agriculture, governance and human capital.
He urged stakeholders to use the report to guide investment, policy and development support, adding: “The launch of this report is only the beginning. Its true value lies in how we use it.”
The opening ceremony also saw Liberia launch its Country Report on Dynamics of Socio-Economic Performance, Food Security, and the Challenges of Regional Integration in ECOWAS.
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