THE National Bureau of Statistics is looking for more partners to financially support the Tanzania Statistical Master Plan (TSMP phase-II) to fill a budgetary gap of around $30 million.

Anne Makinda, Commissioner for the 2022 Population and Housing Census, said this in Dar es Salaam yesterday during the opening of a training workshop on capacity building to improve understanding of on quality of administrative data in Tanzania which is supported by the UK statistical office.

“We call for support for this plan and through various ways including this kind of approach of directly supporting some activities under the master plan,” she said.

The training workshop was part of TSMP Phase II which span from 2022 to 2027 and outlines a comprehensive strategy for development of official statistics across the country.

The plan also aims to establish a robust administrative records system in Tanzania, meeting 60 percent of statistical needs through advancements in information communication technology and physical infrastructure.

“As we embark on disseminating the results from the census, we have learnt that the demand for data is extremely high at all levels and some demand cannot be met by the census data despite the fact that this census was the most loaded in terms of the number of questions on the questionnaire,” she said.

British High Commissioner to Tanzania David Concar said the UK and Tanzania are longstanding partners and friends who have supported each other and work together in a wide range of fields.

“UK businesses have invested in Tanzania and UK is the second largest provider of foreign direct investment. UK international finance experts have in the past worked alongside their Tanzanian counterparts on issues like debt relief,” he said.

The envoy said the partnership continues to grow from strength to strength as the two countries work together to boost economic growth and human development.

“Excellence in statistics and demographic data underpin so much of what we do together. We are proud to have stood alongside Tanzania as you rolled out your census and delivered the demographic and health survey,” he said.

He said the UK statistical system has been using administrative data for a number of years for example for education, labour and crime statistics.

“The UK is currently exploring whether administrative data can be used in place of a traditional census to measure population in future decades.” He said.