Abstract

Achieving complete and accurate coverage remains a central challenge for census-like surveys such as Economic Activity Censuses, particularly in non-advanced National Statistical Offices (NSOs) operating under resource constraints. This paper examines how collaborative partnerships can significantly enhance coverage, data quality, and efficiency, drawing on the experience of the Lesotho Bureau of Statistics.
The paper demonstrates how strategic collaboration with key stakeholders—including business and private sector organizations, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), local authorities, and telecommunication companies—can strengthen survey frames, improve respondent reach, and reduce non-response. Administrative business lists, licensing records, and telecom-supported phone survey platforms are shown to complement traditional enumeration approaches, especially for hard-to-reach and geographically dispersed economic units.
Internally, the paper highlights the importance of institutional capacity, including staff experience in phone-based surveys, Reproducible Analytical Pipelines (RAP), and introductory data linkage techniques. These competencies enable the integration of multiple data sources, systematic follow-up of non-responding units, and transparent, repeatable census workflows. Phone surveys, supported by partnerships with mobile network operators, are presented as a cost-effective tool for coverage verification and post-enumeration follow-up, reducing response burden on enterprises.
The findings show that aligning stakeholder partnerships, administrative data use, and modern analytical practices allows NSOs to move closer to complete coverage in economic censuses while maintaining data quality and trust. The paper contributes to IAOS discussions by illustrating how symbiotic partnerships are not optional but essential for delivering comprehensive, policy-relevant official statistics in developing statistical systems.