THE inability of the National Bureau of Statistics to implement the National Business Sample Census for over 20 years has been blamed on funding challenges.
The Statistician General of the Federation, Yemi Kale, said this on Monday in Abuja at a workshop on the National Business Sample Census.
The Business Census Survey, also known as an Economic Census, is a statistical exercise that involves the enumeration of formal and informal business establishments across the country.
The economic census is conventionally conducted every five years, following consensus by the United Nations Statistical Commission.
Kale, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the NBS, said the census had not been conducted for over two decades, mainly due to the challenge of funding.
The survey, according to the NBS boss, has been approved to commence next year.
He said the government had in the past sought for different ways and means to actualise the economic census, owing to its importance to the country’s economy.
“Our pursuit for this finally paid off, thanks to the World Bank’s Fiscal Governance and Institutions Project, which graciously accommodated the Business Census, as well as the agricultural census, which we plan to conduct early next year,” he said.
Kale said the exercise would involve the enumeration of formal and informal business establishments across the country and would be used to correct Nigeria’s over 20 years statistical anomaly.
He said the Federal Government needed the right data to make economic decisions, following the current economic challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NBS boss noted that stakeholders and policymakers at all levels needed to be fully aware and support the exercise to get the anticipated result.
He said relevant technologies would be deployed during the World Bank sponsored census to enhance data quality.
