Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Inter-Parliamentary Affairs and Senator representing Ondo South, has urged the World Bank to redirect its efforts towards establishing an African Data Bank.
Senator Ibrahim emphasized the importance of data for the future economic development of Africa during a World Bank/IMF Parliamentary meeting on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C.
During the session, Senator Ibrahim expressed concerns about the lack of comprehensive data in Africa, to which Norman Loayza, Director of the Global Indicators Group at the World Bank, responded that the Bank is addressing this concern through new initiatives, including upcoming training programs on statistics.
Senator Ibrahim, however, urged the World Bank to actively support the creation of a Federal Data Bank driven by Nigerian initiatives, emphasizing that data will be the foundation for Africa’s future economic growth and development.
He emphasized that data is essential for addressing crime and reducing poverty, and that various types of data, such as population data for identity management, currency data for central bank planning, and electoral data for understanding public participation, are necessary for effective policy implementation.
“Every sector of the economy requires data, and if action is not taken now, in five years, it will be impossible to run any government without data,”Ibrahim warned.
Furthermore, Senator Ibrahim asserted that external assistance to Africa is futile without robust data infrastructure.
He warned the IMF against making economic projections without empirical evidence and criticized the practice of using sample surveys representing less than 1% of the population to guide loan decisions.
“Can any country develop without a data bank? Why are you not insisting on one, and how are you obtaining your projected African economic outlook without country data?” he questioned.
He urged the IMF to be “fair to Africa” and advocated for the IMF to only provide loans to African countries that have a data bank.
Senator Ibrahim announced the Nigerian Government’s plan to lead in the establishment of a federal data bank, with the impending passage of the Data Bank bill, which will engage all stakeholders.
He urged the World Bank to support the initiative once the bill becomes law and proposed that African countries allocate 15% of their budgets to technology-driven data over the next decade, emphasizing that development relies heavily on data.
