Mauritius has emerged again as Africa’s most competitive economy, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF), ahead of the three biggest economies on the continent.
South Africa emerged second (60th position in the world) while Nigeria was ranked 16th (116th in the world) most competitive country in Africa with competitive ranking score 48.3.
WEF Global Competitiveness Index measures national competitiveness—defined as the set of institutions, policies, and factors that determine the level of productivity.
The latest Global Competitiveness Report paints a gloomy picture, yet it also shows that those countries with a holistic approach to socio-economic challenges, look set to get ahead in the race to the frontier. WEF said.
The report surveyed 13,000 business executives across the 141 economies covered of 61 points, highlighting deep uncertainty and lower confidence.
Below are the Top 20 most competitive economies in Africa for 2019.
| Country | Africa Rank | World Rank | Comp Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mauritius | 1 | 52 | 64.3 |
| South Africa | 2 | 60 | 62.4 |
| Morocco | 3 | 75 | 60.0 |
| Seychelles | 4 | 76 | 59.6 |
| Tunisia | 5 | 87 | 56.4 |
| Algeria | 6 | 89 | 56.3 |
| Botswana | 7 | 91 | 55.5 |
| Egypt | 8 | 93 | 54.5 |
| Namibia | 9 | 94 | 54.5 |
| Kenya | 10 | 95 | 54.1 |
| Rwanda | 11 | 100 | 52.8 |
| Ghana | 12 | 111 | 51.2 |
| Cape Verde | 13 | 112 | 50.8 |
| Senegal | 14 | 113 | 49.7 |
| Uganda | 15 | 114 | 48.9 |
| Nigeria | 16 | 116 | 48.3 |
| Tanzania | 17 | 117 | 48.2 |
| Ivory Coast | 18 | 118 | 48.1 |
| Gabon | 19 | 119 | 47.5 |
| Zambia | 20 | 120 | 46.5 |
Methodology
The Global Competitiveness Report is a yearly report published by the World Economic Forum. Since 2004, the Global Competitiveness Report ranks countries based on the Global Competitiveness Index, developed by Xavier Sala-i-Martin and Elsa V. Artadi.
The report “assesses the ability of countries to provide high levels of prosperity to their citizens”, and also how productively a country uses available resources.
The annual index ranks countries based on 12 pillars of Competitiveness listed below
1. Institutions
2. Appropriate infrastructure
3. Stable macroeconomic framework
4. Good health and primary education
5. Higher education and training
6. Efficient goods markets
7. Efficient labor markets
8. Developed financial markets
9. Ability to harness existing technology
10. Market size —both domestic and international
11. Production of new and different goods using the most sophisticated production processes
12. Innovation
