The World Economic Forum released the 2018 Global Competitiveness Index, and only one African country was listed in the top 50 most competitive countries globally.
The Index, generated using a new methodology that measured economies against 98 indicators, organised into 12 ‘pillars’, ranked 140 countries to determine how they are adapting to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It found out that factors like human capital, agility, resilience, openness and innovation are becoming more important.
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On top of the list is the United States, with 85.6 out of 100, ranked top three in seven of the pillars. Chad is the least competitive in the world with 35.5 out of 100.
The only African nation among the top 50 most competitive countries is Mauritius, coming in at #49 with 67 points out of 100. According to the report:
Mauritius’s leading position in the region is reflected in a GDP growth consistently above three per cent since 2006, and above four per cent over the past three years. The competitiveness performance of Mauritius is relatively strong in eight of 12 GCI pillars, where it ranks 67th or higher. Among these eight pillars Mauritius has achieved its best score on the Product market pillar (65.6, 19th), thanks to a high degree of openness (6th) and a non-distortive fiscal policy (62.6, 16th).
In addition, Mauritius is characterised by strong business dynamism (66.5, 35th) and sustained by lean administrative requirements (83.2) that enable companies to open and close with relative ease. Finally, Mauritius has achieved a strong performance on the Institutions pillar (38th, 62.9), second only to Rwanda in the region.
Seventeen of the 34 African countries on the list are among the bottom 20 globally, pushing the median for the continent to 45.2 out of 100.
Scroll through to find out how African countries in the top 100 most competitive economies fared.
