Malawi’s digital census attracts Africa interest

Malawi has become a role model to other African countries following successful implementation of a paperless or electronic 2018 Population and Housing Census (PHC).

Kenya is the latest country to learn from Malawi as it sent a 14-member delegation led by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

Kenya is set to conduct a similar census in August this year.

In January, Malawi, through National Statistical Office (NSO), also hosted a technical team from Botswana which came to learn from the successful electronic census and, according to NSO commissioner of statistics Mercy Kanyuka, delegations from Zimbabwe, Zambia and Liberia are also expected in the country in April on a similar mission.

Speaking on behalf of the Kenyan team in Lilongwe on Thursday, KNBS director general Zachary Mwangi Chege commended Malawi for successfully conducting a paperless census which he said has proven to be cost-effective and efficient.

The census was conducted in September last year and preliminary results, which pegged Malawi’s population at 17.6 million, were released in early January 2019.

In 2018, using the electronic census, first of its kind in Malawi, NSO deployed 22 556 field supervisors and enumerators nationwide to collect data using computer assisted personal interviews (Capi). The enumerators were provided with tablets to speed up information flow, unlike the previous census where they were using paper questionnaires.