adminwould go a long way in assisting Government in planning.
Minister Biti said the country expects a surge in a numbers owing to Diaspora returnees on the back of improved economic performance.
The Minister said this when he launched the African Statistics Day that was commemorated yesterday.
The commemoration also coincided with the launch of the Publicity Campaign for the 2012 Population Census as well as the Zimbabwe Data base publicity and advocacy campaign. “Be sure to be counted and this is the Motto of the launch. Every Zimbabwean should feel that he is a shareholder of the country,” he said.
He said the success of the population census depends on the co-operation of all stakeholders.
The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency will conduct a national population census in August next year as part of a legal obligation that should be carried out every 10 years.
The Minister also outlined the objectives and importance of a population in the planning and decision making of a country.
“If you want to build a school in Chiendambuya you need to know the population in the area,” he said.
The Minister said it was important to have data stored, as that was useful in decision making.
He castigated some businesses that do not co-operate when required to divulge information related to their business as part of efforts of data collection.
“There is a statistics phobia among businesses people. Statistics is the epicentre of the development of any economy,” he said.
Senior officials from the Ministry of Finance and Zimstat attended the event.
Online Reporter