The Government of the Republic of Congo and the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) (www.AfDB.org) have signed a $602,000 grant agreement to support the rebasing of the country’s national accounts, a critical step toward modernising its economic statistics and enhancing fiscal transparency.

The agreement was signed on 4 August in Brazzaville by the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Integration, Ludovic Ngatse, who is also the Bank’s Governor for Congo, and Leandre Bassole, Director General for Central Africa at the African Development Bank Group. The financing comes from the Bank’s Middle-Income Countries Technical Assistance Fund.

The project will update the base year for calculating Congo’s national economic indicators from 2005, adopting the 2008 System of National Accounts (SNA 2008) in line with international standards, and preparing for the eventual transition to SNA 2025, recently adopted by the United Nations. SNA 2025 introduces innovative measures, including environmental goods and services in the measurement of national wealth, particularly relevant for Congo, a resource-rich nation.

The new base year will capture underrepresented sectors such as digital services, telecommunications, the informal economy, non-profit institutions, and digital financial services.

"This project aims to ensure that Congo's GDP reflects its true value,” Minister Ngatse said. "The debt ratio may fall significantly, and some macroeconomic indicators will improve, enhancing our country's transparency and credibility with technical and financial partners. The rebasing also offers a powerful lever for improving our risk profile and mobilizing more resources for development."

Boosting Fiscal Transparency and Market Confidence

A significant upward revision of the country's nominal GDP is expected, which would reduce the debt-to-GDP and deficit-to-GDP ratios, which are key benchmarks for assessing debt sustainability. More accurate indicators will improve Congo's risk profile on international financial markets, potentially enabling access to financing on more favourable terms.

"Credible economic data is essential for steering and implementing effective public policies,” said Bassole. “This recalibration will make it possible to anchor Congo's economic decisions in the current reality of its economy, strengthen economic governance, improve the country's visibility on markets, and enable better integration of sustainability and environmental criteria into wealth measurement. "

A strong commitment to data-driven development

The project will be implemented over 18 months as part of Congo’s National Statistics Development Strategy (SNDS II 2022-2026), which seeks to produce reliable, up-to-date, and disaggregated data to inform public policy and ensure equitable and inclusive development.

This grant reaffirms the African Development Bank’s commitment to making statistical systems a pillar of economic governance, budget transparency, and monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals, all of which align with its Ten-Year Strategy 2024-2033 (https://apo-opa.co/3HoLpNr) and the African Union's Agenda 2063.