A leadership dialogue for Heads of African National Statistical Offices, at the 10th StatCom-Africa and 12th UN-GGIM-Africa, hosted by ACS-UNECA, PARIS21 and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data.
African national statistical offices now work with new kinds of data, from administrative and geospatial sources to data held by citizens and the private sector. AI is changing how countries produce and use statistics. Governments want evidence faster, often with fewer resources to produce it. Leading an NSO through this takes more than technical upgrades. It means leading the national data system, building trust in how data is governed, and positioning official statistics within national AI and digital agendas.
This session brings Heads of NSOs together to talk through those challenges. Africa already has established leadership programs run by PARIS21, EASTC with ONS UK, and UNECA. The session asks what those programs have taught us, what skills are still missing, and how leadership development can become a lasting part of African statistical training rather than depending on individual projects.
What happens in the session
PARIS21 and EASTC open with a short look at lessons from current leadership programs. The Directors General of Botswana and Senegal then describe how their offices are changing to lead national data systems, and where peer or partner support could help them move faster. Partners respond with reflections on the leadership skills emerging from that exchange and how those skills could feed into curricula and mentoring.
