Namibia To Conduct Maiden Spatially-enabled, Digital Census Enumeration In August

Muhammad Irfan Published January 26, 2022 | 07:43 PM

Namibia will for the first time conduct a spatially-enabled and digital census enumeration in August over a two-week period, Namibia statistician-general Alex Shimuafeni said Wednesday

WINDHOEK, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Jan, 2022 ) :Namibia will for the first time conduct a spatially-enabled and digital census enumeration in August over a two-week period, Namibia statistician-general Alex Shimuafeni said Wednesday.

The 2021 census had been postponed last year mainly due to competing priorities such as the COVID-19 budget prioritization.

Shimuafeni told the media that the Namibia Statistic Agency (NSA) will be recruiting around 11,500 unemployed persons, training and equipping them with the knowledge and ability to undertake a census statistical collection.

"The resources that will be required, and the main costs drivers for this massive exercise, include field staff remuneration, computers for data analysis, vehicles use acquisitions, fuel and insurance costs, field personnel uniforms, data encryption software, hiring of training venues and catering, as well as publicity or advocacy costs," he said.

According to Shimuafeni in efforts to cut costs, the NSA is in the process, through South-South cooperation, to negotiate with the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics to make use of their 12,000 electronic tablets and their accessories.

"These tablets will go through the entire process of data security upon receipt and return. The Statistics Act requires data confidentiality and complying with this is the absolute core of the NSA," he added.

Shimuafeni said the development budget ceiling to carry out the main census in the 2022-2023 financial year as communicated by the National Planning Commission currently stands at 500 million Namibian Dollars (about 32.7 mln US dollars), reduced from 606.9 million Namibian dollars.