ECA/CREG partners to promote NTA methodology in measuring demographic dividend in Africa

Mbour (Senegal), October 17, 2019 – For the first time, Africa is hosting the Scientific Conference on the National Transfer Accounts (NTA-Africa) “Comptes de Transferts Nationaux in Dakar, Senegal.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), through its Sub-Regional Office for West Africa, is co-organising with the Regional Centre of Excellence in Generational Economics (CREG) this first edition of the NTA-AFRICA Conference with the collaboration of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), partner universities and development partners, according its release.

The conference, scheduled for October 28-30 in Mbour, Senegal, with central theme, "Demographic Dynamics and Sustainable Development: The Contribution of the NTA to Agenda 2063".

Its main objective is to promote the National Transfer Accounts (NTA) method, its applications and extensions as well as the political dialogue on demographic dynamics for development.

It said this gathering will be held in a context where the remarkable economic growth efforts observed over the last two decades are relatively compromised by high population growth in many African countries.

A strategy for taking population issues into account could therefore make it possible to take advantage of demographic trends, to generate productivity gains and improve the quality of life for the population.

Accordingly, the Sub-Regional Office of the United Nations Economic Commission for West Africa (ECA/SRO-WA) has set up a specialised Centre on Demographic Dynamics for Development (DDD) in order, among other things, to promote the capture of the demographic dividend.

This conference will see the participation of ECOWAS Member States in a high-level panel on the theme "Demographic Dynamics for Development: Challenges and Perspectives in Africa", and member countries of the project Sahel Women’s Empowerment and the Demographic Dividend (SWEDD) on the theme "National and Regional Demographic Dividend Observatories".

Contributions from the various research and technical teams of the International NTA network are also expected.