Mozambique's National Statistics Institute (INE) will upgrade the digital platform planned for the country's 2027 national census after a pilot exercise exposed connectivity failures and equipment charging problems in remote areas.
INE president Elisa Magaua announced the corrective measures on Friday (21) at a closing ceremony in Magude district, Maputo Province, marking the end of a 15-day census pilot that began on 1 August and was conducted at a cost of €372,900.
"We had small weaknesses. For example, it was not possible to identify controllers and enumerators who were in areas without network coverage," Magaua said. She noted, however, that a central operations room was still able to determine that four or five individuals were located in areas from which no data was being returned.
The pilot was designed to evaluate the procedures and technologies that will underpin Mozambique's first fully digital population census, scheduled for 2027. The shortcomings identified during the exercise will be used to refine the software application before the main count takes place.
Beyond connectivity, the pilot also highlighted insufficient mobile network coverage and a lack of electricity in certain zones, preventing enumerators from charging their devices — a challenge Magaua said would now be treated as a core operational requirement rather than a logistical afterthought.
"We learned that the battery life of our equipment must be treated as a requirement, not as a logistical detail," she said.
The questionnaire itself also came under scrutiny, with INE identifying the need to revise certain questions after finding that poorly worded items failed to capture the intended information in full. "Cases like these, which were few, will lead us to improve the application before the census takes place," Magaua said.
The pilot covered 177 enumeration areas across the five administrative posts of Magude district, selected because they represent the varied geographical and operational conditions found across the country. The exercise also generated employment for 198 local residents.
In June, INE estimated that the 2027 census would record approximately 36 million inhabitants — up 10 million from the 2017 count — and carry a total cost of €96.2 million. As of 27 March, the operation faced a funding shortfall of US$68 million against the US$110 million required, with the World Bank having committed an initial US$12.7 million to help finance it.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/2026/08/22/desenvolvimento-2/ine-quer-melhorar-sistema-digital-do-censo-de-2027-apos-falhas-nos-testes/
