A Zambian national has been elected to the position of Vice-President at the global body of statisticians.
Oliver Chinganya becomes the first African to hold the position, he was elected Vice President for the period (2021-2025) of the International Statistical Institute-ISI.
This is a prestigious global body of international community statisticians.
Mr Chinganya is the Director at the African Centre for Statistics of UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
In an Interview with Zambia Embassy in Ethiopia Mr Chinganya said his recognition places Africa and Zambia in particular on statistical global map as it came at a time Africa celebrated the African Statistics Day which was held on November 18 in all member States of UNECA including Zambia.
He said the coronavirus pandemic, which has ravaged the human social fabric, including economies has revealed weaknesses in many areas, including the capacity of the national statistical systems to continue providing data required timely under COVID-19, which has not only become a health a crisis but also has led to an economic crisis.
Mr Chinganya said that some of the national statistical system’s short fall, is the reliance and continuous application of traditional approaches in the statistical production value chain adding that he would work towards modernization of statistical systems.
And Zambia’s Ambassador to Ethiopia Emmanuel Mwamba has hailed the election of Mr Chinganya.
He said professionals that excel and are respected by there peers ought to be celebrated back home.
