African Statistics Day is an annual event celebrated on 18 November to raise public awareness of the importance of statistics in all aspects of social and economic life. The theme this year is “Modernizing national statistical systems to provide data and statistics to support sustainable peace and development in Africa”, which is in tandem with the theme of the African Union for the year 2020, “Silencing the guns: Creating conducive conditions for Africa’s development”. The theme for African Statistics Day in 2020 was chosen to raise awareness among decision-makers, technical and financial partners, data producers, researchers and the general public about the critical importance of governance and socioeconomic statistics in achieving the goal of a conflict-free Africa. Peace, security and socioeconomic development must be pursued simultaneously to make “silencing the guns” a reality across the continent
