Burundi: Government releases 66 billion for the general population census while waiting for its partners’ financing to come

Development partners who promised to support the country for the general census of the population, housing, agriculture and livestock have not yet honored their commitments, the president of the Central Census Bureau (BCR) indicated this last Thursday during a press briefing. He announced that the BCR is currently using funds collected internally.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Nicolas Ndayishimiye indicated that the reports of mismanagement of partner funds are false.

He assured that everything is going well despite delays at the beginning of the process following certain challenges, including poor internet connectivity, the inexperience of some census agents, lack of electricity in some localities of the country and the assignment of field staff.

“It took time to build the capacity of census agents to handle data collection tablets. It was found that out of the 18,000 who followed the training, at least a quarter had never touched an Android phone,” said the BCR president.

On two occasions, the activities of census agents were postponed, the most recent postponement being that of August 25 ending on September 15.

“Currently, census agents are numbering throughout the country, in all households located in their enumeration areas, to avoid omissions and double counting during the census itself,” explained Nicolas Ndayishimiye, who also happens to be the head of the Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies of Burundi (ISTEEBU).

The general population census requires a budget of nearly 100 billion francs, as Mr. Ndayishimiye specified.

The BCR is waiting for support from Burundi’s partners, including the World Bank, which comes first, as it has promised to contribute 6.5 million US dollars.

In Burundi, the last general census, which covered the population and housing, dates back to 2008. It resulted in a population of more than 8 million inhabitants.

Over the last 10 years, the Burundian population has experienced rapid overall growth of 30.1%, from 9.5 million in 2010 to 12.3 million in 2020. This population is made up of 61% young people under 25 in 2020, with only 3% of the Burundian population aged 65 and over, according to the UN.

According to other reports, the current population of Burundi in 2024 is 13,591,657 inhabitants, an increase of 2.67% compared to 2023.

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Residents participate in a meeting held by local authorities in a densely populated area in northwest Burundi where land conflicts are causing many victims, October 2023 (SOS Médias Burundi)