Conference addresses macroeconomic issues of West African nations

A recent conference hosted by the government of Ghana, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Kingdom Department for International Development in Accra, Ghana, saw macroeconomic policymakers from more than 40 African nations gather.

The conference was also attended by officials from educational and financial institutions and a variety of international organizations. The main focus of the conference was to exchange ideas about data sharing and economic issues in order to emphasize the importance of accurate economic data to make decisions and develop policies.

“In Africa, as elsewhere, we need to jump ahead of crisis management when it comes to data, and seek to enhance the gathering, processing, dissemination and analysis of data to help us formulate and implement the best possible set of economic and financial policies,” IMF Deputy Managing Director Min Zhu.

Kenyan Central Bank Governor Patrick Njoroge felt the conference was valuable.

“The conference provided a unique opportunity for high-level decision makers to exchange ideas and experiences so that we can work together to strengthen the data used for policy making,” he said.

Toward the end of the conference, attendees broke into roundtable discussion groups to cover topics, such as standards and benchmarks for data quality, the IMF's support of the macroeconomic efforts of individual nations and training.