Three decades of training government statistical staff in developing countries: the African experience

Almost all official statistical services in Africa were introduced during the colonial era with the setting up of statistical units in the colonies and territories whose functions were largely determined by the ruling colonial powers. In East Africa, the service was set up in 1926 as the Statistical Section of the East African Governors' Conference with a mandate of "collecting statistics gradually, on the same method, throughout the territories, and to tabulate and compare results so that true inferences can be drawn" (Singh, 1971). Nigeria's statistical office was established in 1947 wither personnel deployed from the Treasury, Customs and Office of the Chief Secretary.