Egypt ranked first in Africa and 53rd globally out of 154 countries in the Global Knowledge Index, jumping 19 places compared to last year when it came in at 72nd.
The Global Knowledge Index (GKI) measures global knowledge as a comprehensive concept closely related to sustainable development and the various dimensions of contemporary human life.
The Index (GKI) takes into account whether a country’s environment is conducive for knowledge to be used effectively for sustainable development.
The Index monitors the knowledge status of 154 countries across areas including education, innovation, and information & communications technology.
Egypt is the highest-ranked African country on this year’s Global Knowledge Index (GKI), moving up to 53rd position from 72 last year.
Tunisia was the second highest-ranked in Africa – at 82nd, up one position from last year.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, Botswana ranked the highest, followed by South Africa and Namibia.
According to the GKI, Botswana is “a moderate performer in terms of its knowledge infrastructure. It ranks 70th out of 154 countries in the GKI 2021, and 13th out of the 39 countries with high human development”.
The latest report was launched in Dubai this week and “represents an important addition to the global repository of knowledge on development, providing diverse and reliable data that can help countries and decision-makers to understand and respond to related transformations and challenges more clearly”.
| Rank | Country | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egypt | 52.3 |
| 2 | Botswana | 49 |
| 3 | Tunisia | 47.2 |
| 4 | South Africa | 47.1 |
| 5 | Cabo Verde | 44.7 |
| 6 | Namibia | 44.3 |
| 7 | Morocco | 43.5 |
| 8 | Kenya | 42.1 |
| 9 | Ghana | 41.3 |
| 10 | Lesotho | 40.5 |
| 11 | Algeria | 40.3 |
| 12 | Rwanda | 39.7 |
| 13 | Malawi | 39 |
| 14 | Eswatini (Kingdom of) | 38.5 |
| 15 | Uganda | 37.9 |
Lowest Ranked African Countries
| Rank | Country | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chad | 24.9 |
| 2 | Niger | 26.5 |
| 3 | Congo (Democratic Republic of the) | 27.1 |
| 4 | Mali | 28.7 |
| 5 | Angola | 28.9 |
| 6 | Mauritania | 29 |
| 7 | Guinea | 29.6 |
| 8 | Sudan | 30.4 |
| 9 | Burkina Faso | 30.9 |
| 10 | Mozambique | 31.2 |
| 11 | Benin | 31.6 |
| 12 | Burundi | 31.9 |
| 13 | Madagascar | 32.2 |
| 14 | Ethiopia | 32.6 |
| 15 | Côte d’Ivoire | 32.9 |
The Global Knowledge Index (GKI) takes into account whether the environment is conducive for knowledge to be used effectively for economic development. It is an aggregate index that represents the overall level of development of a country or region towards the Knowledge Economy. It is calculated based on the average of the normalized performance scores of a country or region on all 4 pillars related to the knowledge economy – education, innovation, and information & communications technology.
