INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS INDEX, 2016
Sub-Saharan Africa
(the higher the capacity, the darker the coutry's shade)
- Mauritius 49.57%
- Botswana 48.19%
- Cape Verde 38.56%
- Seychelles 36.95%
- South Africa 35.61%
- Gabon 34.39%
- Equitorial Guinea 30.86%
- Namibia 29.06%
- Kenya 29.03%
- Nigeria 29.02%
- Somalia 8.25%
- Madagascar 12.12%
- Mauritania 13.50%
- Guinea-Bissau 13.61%
- Malawi 13.83%
- Mali 14.13%
- Central African Republic 14.73%
- Eritrea 15.45%
- Zimbabwe 15.96%
- Democratic Republic of Congo 16.08%
- Mauritius 51.56%
- Botswana 45.94%
- South Africa 42.50%
- Nigeria 38.75%
- Cape Verde 34.38%
- Seychelles 34.06%
- Kenya 33.13%
- Gabon 31.25%
- Niger 30%
- Namibia 30%
- Mauritius 58.13%
- Botswana 57.59%
- Seychelles 47.24%
- Cape Verde 46.91%
- Gabon 46.56%
- Cameroon 45.24%
- Republic of Congo 43.75%
- Equatorial Guinea 43.13%
- Angola 41.48%
- Benin 39.34%
- Botswana 39.75%
- Benin 37.25%
- Cape Verde 36.50%
- Rwanda 34.25%
- Mauritius 31.75%
- Comoros 31.25%
- Ethiopia 30.50%
- Kenya 29.50%
- Ghana 29.25%
- Burkina Faso 29.25%
The Challenge
Societies with intermittent innovation struggle with sluggish technological and overall economic progress. Sporadic innovation decreases the productivity of existing businesses and curbs creation of new, job-creating industries. The shrinking opportunities discourage entrepreneurship and significantly lower the standards of living. Regions with robust innovation ecosystems that include an abundance of research facilities and funding mechanisms, favorable working facilities and conditions, individual growth opportunities, and higher wages experience balanced employment, systematic innovation, and brain-gain.
Growing economies regularly invest 2-4% of their GDP on Research and Development to pursue ambitious technological solutions and improvements in various industry verticals.
Index and Data
The Innovation Index identifies which of the African countries have the appropriate ecosystem to reach and maintain continuity in innovation – a key ingredient for sustained growth and prosperity. To determine the required abilities and resources, the study has deployed the Individual Capacities and Intent methodology. The inquiry examined three fundamental elements for each of the 54 African countries: 1) Intellectual Capacity, 2) Network Capacity, and 3) Financial Capacity. The analysis included data from major data-analytical sources, such as the World Bank, UNESCO, European Union, UNDP, WTO, and others. Overall, the study utilized nearly 30 reputable data sets.
The mathematical inquiry: 1) compared how countries compare against each other and 2) set the stage for understanding the critical role the citizens and other stakeholders play in reaching and maintaining continuity in innovation.
The study encountered a number of data related challenges. Some of the essential data is not available at all, or it is not available for certain countries, or it is dated. In the future editions, the analysis will leverage the advances in Big Data analytics and data mining techniques to mitigate the absence of certain data.
Index for Innovation Ecosystems in Africa
Interested in learning more about innovation in Africa? Check out our index for innovation ecosystems for the entire African continent.
Methodology Design by
