AfDB launches Africa’s open data platform

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has launched an Open Data for Africa platform aimed at significantly increasing access to quality data necessary for managing and monitoring development results in African countries, including the Millennium Development Goals.

The Tunis-based regional lender who announced this December 16, 2011 says the platform will also serve as a knowledge center for collecting, accessing, and sharing data and data-driven content.

The Open Data for Africa platform also responds to a number of important global and regional initiatives to scale up the availability of quality data on Africa and so foster evidence-based decision-making, public accountability, and good governance.

“The platform will offer a unique opportunity for AfDB staff, policymakers, analysts, researchers, business leaders, and investors around the world to gain access to reliable and timely data on Africa. Users can visualize socioeconomic indicators over a period of time, utilize presentation-ready graphics or create their own, perform comprehensive analysis at country and regional levels, blog, and share their views and work with others, thereby creating an informed community of users,” the AfDB said in a statement.

The initiative, the AfDB indicated forms part of the worldwide effort to strengthen statistical capacity, articulated in the Busan Action Plan for Statistics, which was endorsed by the international community at the High-level forum on aid effectiveness, which took place in Busan, in South Korea, from November 28 to December 1, 2011.

The Open Data for Africa platform was launched in partnership with Knoema which brings together data-driven content for researchers, policy makers and general public.

By Ekow Quandzie