Africa's statistical tragedy: best statistics, best government effectiveness

We analyze the effect of statistical capacity on government effectiveness/efficiency using cross-sectional and panel data from a sample of 48 African countries for the period 2003-2008. The results show that statistical capacity positively affects government effectiveness/efficiency. The positive effect of statistical capacity is robust after controlling for other determinants of institutional quality and usage of alternative estimation techniques. It follows that countries with higher statistical capacity levels enjoy institutions of better quality than countries with low levels of statistical capacity. As a policy implication, if Africa does not have effective governments, it is partly because it has a very weak statistical capacity. In such an environment, access to information for effective governance is compromised.