Principal Statistician at African Development Bank - AfDB

Position Number: 50093735
Location: Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
Position Grade: PL4

The Complex

• The Economic Governance and Knowledge Management (ECVP Complex) core objective is to give greater visibility and prominence to knowledge, its dissemination and management. This is done through the:
  • Generation of access to operationally relevant, multi-sector research on African development issues;
  • The narrowing of the data statistics gap in Africa by improving the availability, quality and coverage of statistics, for policy formulation, implementation, evaluation and effective monitoring of progress and contributing to the development of cooperation statistics in Africa.
• ECVP is also the focal point for capacity development and provision of training with a clear focus on those areas most relevant to ensuring economic growth and efficient implementation of Bank-financed projects and enhancing their impact.

The Hiring Department

• The Statistics Department’s primary role is to avail quality statistics needed to support the operational and policy work of the Bank Group as well as its development research activities, to contribute to the development of statistical systems in Regional Member Countries & Regional Economic Communities.
• With the objective of informing evidence-based decision-making in AfDB operations, the Department’s activities focus on meeting the data needs for the Bank’s High 5s agenda, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and African Union’s Agenda 2063.
• The Department pays close attention to the contexts of each RMC, in order to provide targeted and customized support for statistical capacity building.
• With the abrupt outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, those contexts are being distorted and destabilized to their social and economic core.  
• Such unprecedented upheavals are shaping a new normal, a new reality with new structures and dynamics which policymakers, economists, researchers and public at large are eager to understand through the lenses of real-time and accurate data.
• Only through data-informed understanding will they be able to effectively prepare for any future pandemic threat while mitigating the effects of past shocks.
• In Africa, the Statistics Department will play a leadership role in developing and managing the relevant data frameworks as effective responses to data urgency.
• The management of the above data sets is done through the Bank’s Africa Information Highway (AIH), a cutting-edge platform designed to manage all data assets collected and harmonized under the framework of One Bank Data System (1BDS).

The Position
The Principal Statistician will be the technical lead in ensuring timely and quality statistical production through:

• Leading to the vast range of socio-economic data generation and analysis including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and indicators on the Bank’s High 5s.
• Contribution to improving technical capacities of National Statistical Systems for data quality and dissemination through promoting innovative data solutions.
• Contribution to the enhancement and maintenance of the Bank's socio-economic statistics database.
• Contribution and providing of advice on data management and dissemination under the Africa Information Highway (AIH) platform,
• Developing and maintaining technical cooperation with global, regional and national partners on issues of data production, harmonization and disseminations.
• Promoting the utilization by users in the Bank and in regional member countries of the Open Data Portal (ODP) that also incorporates a data submission tool that facilitates data exchange via the application of Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange (SDMX) standards

Key Responsibilities
Under the supervision and guidance of the Division Manager Economic and Social Statistics, the Principal statistician will:

• Provide statistical and analytical support the Bank and member countries to meet the operational and research needs by availing comparative socio-economic data and projections of the most widely used socio-economic parameters relating to Africa’s economy and Bank Group operations.
• Lead and develop initiatives to enhance the production of socio-economic statistics and analyses in support of the activities and ensure accuracy and consistency in the use of statistical data throughout the Bank; and provide guidance on statistical analysis and interpretation.
• Develop and maintain a knowledge base on socio-economic and cross-sectoral statistics relating to the concepts, methods, classifications, best practices in such areas as demography, employment, health, education, poverty and living conditions, housing, environment, gender, governance, infrastructures, etc.
• Define and recommend appropriate statistical methods to be used to improve socio-economic data production in Regional Member Countries and contribute to the bank’s statistics and publications in the area.
• Review and advice on concepts, methods, classifications, best practices in socio-economic statistics domains including demography, employment, health, education, poverty and living conditions, environment, gender, governance, infrastructures and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Lead the preparation of statistical publications for dissemination within the Bank and to officials and institutions in member countries; and review data used in Bank reports for consistency, accuracy and reliability.
• Provide technical assistance to RMCs in the areas of SDGs tracking and monitoring and improving data sources for socio-economic statistics including surveys and administrative data.
• Contribute to the technical assistance to Regional Member Countries (RMC) in order to ensure production of statistical indicators in compliance with international statistical standards and norms; improve capacities of statistical training centres to meet the needs of National Statistics Systems.
• Initiate, build and maintain partnerships and technical cooperation with regional and international institutions which includes developing and implementing regional joint programmes; organizing and participating in meetings, conferences and interregional dialogues and networks
• Promote the use of the African Information Highway (AIH) in the Bank, regional member countries and regional economic communities (RECs) and assist in providing trainings on innovations in data collection and dissemination.
• Support the implementation of the Strategy for the Harmonization of Statistics in Africa (SHaSA), the African Charter on Statistics and other regional statistical strategies and principles, as well as agreed upon quality assurance standards across Africa.
• Contribute to the enhancement and maintenance of the Bank’s statistical databases, including access, interface and utilization.
• Participate in activities within the Bank & in Regional Member Countries for streamlining data management & dissemination through the Africa Information Highway initiative to inform policies, strategies & decision making.
• Represent the Department/Division in country teams and interdepartmental working groups within the Bank; review operations documents, provide statistical inputs to Bank group’s Annual Report and other reports.
• Represent the Bank at international and regional platforms, technical working groups and meetings pertaining to statistics as will be directed by ECST management and provide guidance on statistical issues and applications.

Competencies (Skills, Experience and Knowledge)

• Hold at least a Master's Degree in Statistics or Economics or related quantitative areas
• A minimum of 6 years of relevant experience in statistical production, with sound experience in analysis of socio-economic statistics and statistical strategies. Additional experience in statistical coordination would be an advantage.
• Solid experience in statistical operations and data management.
• Proven work experience in socio-economic statistical domains.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities coupled with the ability to manage innovation and change.
• Familiarity with AfDB’s Africa Information Highway (AIH) and Country Open Data Platforms (ODPs)
• A good knowledge of SDMX (Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange) artefacts
• Client and results orientation with “a can-do attitude”;
• Ability to deal with sensitive issues in a multi-cultural environment and to build effective working relations with colleagues.
• Ability to develop and implement statistical methods and procedures.
• Excellent teamwork skills and ability to interact effectively with staff members at all level.
• Ability to work independently with little supervision as well as part of a multicultural team.
• Ability to be flexible, open-minded with integrity.
• Strong managerial skills, including interpersonal communication, problem solving, client orientation, Team working and relations
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language.
• A good Knowledge of database Management System
• Competence with standard MS Office software, knowledge of a statistical packages and data science tools (e.g.: national accounts package; SAS; SPSS, STATA,R).