The African Development Bank Group this week announced the launch of what it calls an open data platform in 20 African countries.
The move comes as part of the group’s Africa Information Highway initiative, which is aimed at significantly improving data management and dissemination across the continent.
The platform will help policymakers, analysts, researchers and investors worldwide to access, extract and visualise timely development data on African countries across sectors and countries in tables, charts and maps from multiple international and national official sources, according to the AfDB.
It is also designed to facilitate the collection, analysis and sharing of data for the AfDB and possibly other international development partners, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), E.U. Commission, World Health Organisation (WHO), UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), African Union Commission (AUC) and UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the release added.
The data platform has been implemented in Algeria, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Republic of Congo, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and work is ongoing to complete implementation for the rest of African countries by July 2013.
The platform, which offers a data portal that enables feedback, is expected by the AfDB to revolutionise data management and dissemination in Africa, and reposition the continent for more effective participation in the global information economy. It will facilitate the collection, analysis and sharing of data on emerging and crucial development topics such as food security, gender equality and climate change, the bank said.
