World Economic Forum reveals Africa's ten most competitive countries
Sub-Saharan African countries have their work cut out to make the region more competitive.
The latest Global Competitiveness Index for 2011-2012, published by the World Economic Forum, shows that Sub-Saharan African countries have their work cut out to make the region more competitive.
Although some African countries have made progress with respect to national competitiveness, the region still lags behind the rest of the world. From a total of 142 countries, only three Sub-Saharan African countries, namely South Africa, Mauritius and Rwanda, feature in the top half of the rankings. Among the bottom 20 economies, 13 are from Africa.
The World Economic Forum defines competitiveness as “the set of institutions, policies, and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country. The level of productivity, in turn, sets the level of prosperity that can be earned by an economy. The productivity level also determines the rates of return obtained by investments in an economy, which in turn are the fundamental drivers of its growth rates. In other words, a more competitive economy is one that is likely to grow faster over time."
Sub-Saharan Africa’s ten most competitive countries are:
1. South Africa 2011-2012 overall ranking: 50 2010-2011 overall ranking: 54
2. Mauritius 2011-2012 overall ranking: 54 2010-2011 overall ranking: 55
3. Rwanda 2011-2012 overall ranking: 70 2010-2011 overall ranking: 80
4. Botswana 2011-2012 overall ranking: 80 2010-2011 overall ranking: 76
5. Namibia 2011-2012 overall ranking: 83 2010-2011 overall ranking: 74
6. The Gambia 2011-2012 overall ranking: 99 2010-2011 overall ranking: 90
7. Kenya 2011-2012 overall ranking: 102 2010-2011 overall ranking: 106
8. Benin 2011-2012 overall ranking: 104 2010-2011 overall ranking: 103
9. Ethiopia 2011-2012 overall ranking: 106 2010-2011 overall ranking: 119
10. Senegal 2011-2012 overall ranking: 111 2010-2011 overall ranking: 104