The Legatum Prosperity Index is an annual ranking developed by the Legatum Institute , a division of the United Arab Emirates- based private investment firm, Legatum.
The annual prosperity index, which was published on LPI’s official website, on Wednesday, showed that Nigeria, which scored 50.10 per cent, was overtaken by South Africa (68th ), Ghana (84th ) and Kenya (97th ), among others.
According to this years report, Mauritius is the most Prosperous country in Africa. In the Prosperity Pillar rankings, the country performed best on Social Capital and Personal Freedom and scores lowest on the Education pillar. The biggest positive change, compared to last year, came in Social Capital increasing by 20 places, whereas they dropped 3 places on Safety & Security.
South Africa was ranked the second most Prosperous Country in Africa, overall South Africa fell by 5 positions from 63 to 68 when compared to last year.
In the Prosperity Pillar rankings, South Africa performs best on Personal Freedom and Social Capital and scores lowest on the Economic Quality pillar. The biggest positive change, compared to last year, came in Social Capital increasing by 3 places, whereas they dropped 15 places on Business Environment.
Nigeria on the other hand was ranked 29th mist Prosperous in Africa. Like other countries on the list, Nigeria was rated based on its rankings in Economic Quality (139th ), Business Environment (66th ), Governance (107th ), Education (123rd), Health (143rd), Safety and Security (145th ), Personal Freedom (111th ), Social Capital (48th ), and Natural Environment (104th ).
The website said, “In the overall Prosperity Index rankings , Nigeria has climbed by three positions from 132 to 129 when compared to last year. Since the Prosperity Index began in 2006 , Nigeria has moved down the rankings table by five places.
“In the Prosperity Pillar rankings , Nigeria performs best on Social Capital and Business Environment and scores lowest on the Safety and Security pillar. The biggest positive change , compared to last year, came in Business Environment increasing by 12 places, whereas they dropped one place on Safety and Security. ”
Nigeria’s neighbour GHANA was ranked 5th most prosperous in Africa, overall in the Prosperity Index rankings, Ghana climbed by 5 positions from 89 to 84 when compared to last year.
Ghana performed best in Social Capital and Governance and scored lowest in the Health pillar. The biggest positive change, compared to last year, came in Economic Quality increasing by 18 places, whereas they dropped 11 places on Business Environment.
Other African countries in the top 10 are, Namibia, Botswana, Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, Tunisia, Morocco, Tanzania.
Top 20 Most Prosperous Countries in Africa, 2018
1. Mauritius
2. South Africa
3. Namibia
4. Botswana
5. Ghana
6. Rwanda
7. Kenya
8. Tunisia
9. Morocco
10. Tanzania
11. Zambia
12. Senegal
13. Malawi
14. Djibouti
15. Lesotho
16. Burkina Faso
17. Algeria
18. Liberia
19. Zimbabwe
20. Benin
ABOUT LEGATUM PROSPERITY INDEX
The Legatum Prosperity Index is a framework that assesses countries on the promotion of their citizens’ flourishing, reflecting both wealth and wellbeing.
The index captures the richness of a truly prosperous life, moving beyond traditional macro-economic measurements of a nation’s prosperity, which rely solely on indicators of wealth such as average income per person (GDP per capita).
It seeks to redefine the way we measure national success, changing the conversation from what we are getting to who we are becoming. This makes it an authoritative measure of human progress, offering a unique insight into how prosperity is forming and changing across the world.
To cover both wealth and wellbeing, and not just one or the other, the Prosperity Index faces the challenge of finding a meaningful measure of national success. We endeavour to create an Index that is methodologically sound. This is something that the Legatum Institute has sought to achieve with academic and analytical rigour over the past decade.
For the 201
