Opportunities of Georeferenced Census Data to Address Demographic Challenges in Africa

Sabrina Juran, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Tapiwa Jhamba, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Rachel Snow, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

The majority of African countries conduct regularly census to provide data for formulating and monitoring of population policies and programmes. Census technologies and methodologies are changing very quickly, particularly in the area of Information Technologies. High-resolution population data are fundamental to understand and manage the demographic processes and the geography of inequality. In the 2020 round of census, and in line with technological advances, a large number of countries are adopting new methodologies for digital cartography and census enumeration, such as the creation of boundaries using GPS points and satellite imagery, the use of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) enabled handheld data collection devices or automated delineation of Enumeration Areas. Adoption of new methods and technologies demands more preparatory time for scoping, selecting, integrating and testing the new methods. In addition, countries might need support with capacity strengthening in new aspects to ensure successful implementation of census conducts, irrespective of method used.