Sub-Sahara Africa – overall the least competitive region globally – WEF report
The World Economic Forum this week released their Global Competitiveness Report 2019, which shows that sub-Sahara Africa is the world’s least competitive region, with 25 of the 34 economies assessed this year scoring below 50.
The region was lead by Mauritius ranked at 52, South Africa, the second most competitive in the region, improved to the 60th position, while Namibia (94th from 100th), Rwanda (100th), Uganda (115th) and Guinea (122nd) all improved significantly.
Among the other large economies in the region, Kenya (95) and Nigeria (116) also improved their performances, but lost some positions, overtaken by faster climbers, the report said.
“On a positive note, of the 25 countries that improved their Health score by two points or more, 14 are from sub-Sahara Africa, making strides to close the gaps in healthy life expectancy,” the report said.
Building on four decades of experience in benchmarking competitiveness, the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index 4.0 is a composite indicator that assesses the set of factors that determine an economy’s level of productivity – widely considered as the most important determinant of long-term growth.
