INS sets workshop to boost trade data
Traders, importers and policy teams will soon read export numbers drawn from a wider net of sources. The National Institute of Statistics, known locally as INS, has announced a forthcoming workshop designed to cement a fresh legal and technical framework for external trade data.
According to a statement received by the Agence Congolaise d’Information, the meeting will take place in the coming weeks and brings together representatives from customs, energy, forestry and port authorities, all crucial players in painting a fuller picture of Congo’s cross-border merchandise flows.
Officials see the initiative as another step in the government’s drive for economic transparency and data-based planning, especially as the country positions itself as a logistics hub between Central Africa and the Atlantic shipping lanes.
Legal backbone for trusted figures
The core objective of the workshop is to draft a binding memorandum of understanding that sets out who collects what, in which format, and on which timetable. Without such rules, statisticians warn, gaps and overlaps can distort headline figures and mislead investors.
INS Director General Simon Kouka has repeatedly argued that reliable numbers are a public good, comparable to roads or power lines. “Decisions worth billions ride on a percentage point,” he told a previous conference, emphasizing the need for clear legal backing.
The upcoming session also echoes a continent-wide agenda. The African Union has called on all member states to harmonise statistical systems so that trade policies under the African Continental Free Trade Area rest on comparable evidence rather than fragmented country spreadsheets.
Legal clarity also facilitates timely responses to global shocks. During the pandemic, statisticians worldwide struggled to separate signal from noise in disrupted supply chains. By codifying emergency update procedures now, INS wants to avoid blind spots should similar disruptions arise in the future.
Congo’s alignment with those continental guidelines, government advisers note, sends a positive signal to regional lenders and to companies watching tariff changes under AfCFTA rules.
New partners join the data loop
At present, most trade figures are drawn from the Directorate-General of Customs and Indirect Taxes, a backbone repository that mainly records declarations at official border posts. INS now wants to widen the lens by integrating so-called extra-customs sources.
Entities invited include the General Inspectorate of Hydrocarbons, the Export Timber Control Service, the National Oil Company of Congo, the state utility Energie Electrique du Congo, port authorities in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire, the Congolese Shippers Council and the Single Window for cross-border operations.
By pooling data from oil terminals, container berths and forest-product checkpoints, statisticians hope to reduce under-reporting of niche commodities and to flag informal trade that still escapes standard customs capture.
INS trainers plan follow-up coaching sessions for provincial customs inspectors, using tablets pre-loaded with data validation software. The idea, they say, is to shorten the path from clipboard to cloud, while giving junior officers a clearer sense of how their daily entries feed national indicators.
Clear roles, clear formats
The workshop will gather 28 senior officers from Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire. Over several days they will map each institution’s mandate, specify data fields—such as HS codes, quantities, values in CFA francs—and agree on secure digital channels for monthly transfers.
A dedicated session will also designate focal points inside every administration. These officers will act as first responders, troubleshooting discrepancies and ensuring that confidentiality clauses are respected before any dataset leaves their office.
Digital security is high on the agenda. INS technicians intend to promote encryption standards already used for census micro-data, a move that protects commercial secrets while maintaining the institute’s reputation as a neutral third party.
Towards quarterly bulletins 2025 and AU vision
Once the memorandum is signed, INS plans to publish quarterly merchandise trade bulletins starting in 2025. The documents will track export and import growth by sector and destination, giving businesses a forward-looking compass for sourcing, pricing and logistics planning.
Macro-economists at the Ministry of Economy anticipate that the richer dataset will refine GDP estimates and help measure the impact of diversification programmes outlined in the National Development Plan. Foreign missions have similarly expressed interest in more granular shipping statistics.
On the regional front, officials stress that the legal framework could later serve as a template for other CEMAC countries, making cross-country comparisons smoother and boosting the bloc’s collective bargaining power in global commodity negotiations.
Until then, the forthcoming workshop marks the immediate milestone. With clear rules and broader data streams, the institute hopes to deliver numbers that citizens, entrepreneurs and international partners can trust, reinforcing Congo’s vision of a modern, transparent and resilient economy in the years to come.