The National Institute of statistics and Applied Economics (ENSEA) in Abidjan was established in 1961 as a national public institution to train statisticians for French speaking African countries. In June 1969, as the school became increasingly international, a law defined the school as a public higher education institution with civil personality and economic autonomy. To date, it has trained about 4000 statisticians from more than 20 countries in Africa and Haiti. Decree No. 91-642 of 9 October 1991 defines the tasks and activities of ensea:
(i) Training and development of statistical and economic professionals;
(II) research, production, expertise and consultation in statistics, demographics and computer science.
It is part of the African network of statistical training schools (ESA), in cooperation with issea in Yaound é and ENSA in Dakar.
Ensea has been rated as "African Center of excellence" (CEA) by the world bank since 2015 and "regional center of excellence" by the West African Economic and Monetary Union since 2005. He has been a member of the association of French universities (SEA) since 2010.
Ensea's training for statisticians is a combination of theory and practice. It is provided through four (04) different training levels designed for initial training based on students' recruitment level and career after leaving school. The school also provides continuing education courses for professionals and statistical research and research services to national and international institutions. In 2018-2019 academic year, the postdoctoral college was opened to the first batch of four doctoral students for the first time.