The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has released the 2021 edition of the global innovation index (PDF.). As usual, Mauritius ranks 1st in Africa and 52nd in the world, maintaining its previous global position in 2020. The 2021 edition which presented the worldwide innovation landscape and annual performance rankings of some 130 economies, found that governments and enterprises in many parts of the world have scaled up their investments in innovation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is likely that innovation divides will be accentuated in the coming years, across economies, sectors and companies. Innovation ecosystems in many emerging economies have become fragile and will need to be supported by targeted policies. While sectors such as ICT, software and pharmaceuticals have increased spending on R&D in 2020, others such as hospitality and automobiles, have reduced their R&D investments over the same period. This imbalance will need to be corrected as the future winners in all sectors will have to be innovative in terms of both new technologies and business models,” the report noted. 

The ranking of innovation results is based on 80 indicators in several sectors, including business development, political environment, infrastructure, etc. 

In Africa, the following countries are the most innovative. 

Mauritius

The report ranked Mauritius 52nd in the world and 1st in Africa. According to the report, while institutions in Mauritius— covering political and operational stability; government effectiveness; regulatory quality; rule of law; ease of doing business — rank 21st in the world in terms of innovation, the sophistication of the Mauritian markets — covering ease of access to credit; venture capital deals; domestic industry diversification; market capital capitalisation — is ranked the 29th in the world. In fact in terms of market sophistication, Mauritius is only second to South Africa which ranks 23rd in the world.

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However, the country ranks low — 111st in the world — in terms of the sophistication of the businesses — that is, as regards the quality of its knowledge workers; innovation linkages, research talent in businesses, etc. South Africa ranks 51st in the world in this regard. 

The East African country also ranks 71st in the world in terms of human capital and research — which covers education; tertiary education; research and development (R&D), etc. Tunisia is the highest in Africa at 35th in this regard. 

South Africa

South Africa ranks 61st in the world and 2nd in Africa. The country’s institutions are the 55th most innovative in the world. At 23rd, its markets are also the most sophisticated in Africa. In terms of human capital and research, the country is the 67th in the world and 3rd in Africa, behind Tunisia and Namibia (which is ranked 57th in the world).

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The country’s worst performance is the area of infrastructure where it is ranked 83rd in the world. Mauritius is the best performer in Africa— 65th in the world — in terms of the innovativeness of its infrastructure, which covers ICT access; ICT use; government’s online service; e-participation; electricity output; logistics performance; environmental sustainability, among others. Mauritius is followed by Cape Verde.

Tunisia

Following South Africa is Tunisia which is ranked 71st in the world and 3rd in Africa. The country’s human capital and research sector Africa’s number 1, ranking only 35th in the world, ahead of countries like Luxembourg, Malaysia or India. The human capital and research sector covers Tunisia’s expenditure on education; government funding to its pupil, secondary schools; school life expectancy, years; reading, maths and science; pupil-teacher ratio, secondary; tertiary enrolment; graduates in science and engineering; tertiary inbound mobility; researchers; gross expenditure on R&D; global corporate R&D investors; university ranking, etc. 

The country also ranks 1st in Africa and 55th in the world in terms of knowledge and technology outputs, which covers patents; scientific and technical articles; labor productivity growth; new businesses; software spending; ISO 9001 quality certificates; high-tech manufacturing; intellectual property receipts; production and export complexity; high-tech exports; ICT services exports, etc. 

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At 75th, the country’s institutions are also innovative. However, its worst performance is in the area of the sophistication of its businesses in which it ranked 114th in the world. This is closely followed by the sophistication of its markets which is ranked 98th globally. 

Morocco

Morocco is ranked 77th in the world and 4th in Africa. The country’s best performance is in the area of knowledge and technology outputs, where it is ranked 67th in the world and 4th in Africa, behind Tunisia, South Africa and Kenya. 

However, its worst performance is in the area of the sophistication of its businesses in which it ranks 105th globally. This is followed by the sophistication of its markets which is ranked 91st worldwide. 

Kenya

Ranked 76th in the world and 5th in Africa. Kenya’s strengths are in the area of market sophistication where it ranks 54th in the world and 3rd in Africa, behind South Africa and Mauritius; and knowledge and technology outputs, where it is ranked 65th in the world. 

Its worst performance is, however, in the area of infrastructure where it is ranked 114th in the world. In terms of human capital and research, the country also performed badly, ranking 92nd in the world. 

Cape Verde

Cape Verde is 89th in the world and 6th in Africa. The country is the second best performer in Africa — 66th in the world — in terms of the innovativeness of its infrastructure, which covers ICT access; ICT use; government’s online service; e-participation; electricity output; logistics performance; environmental sustainability, among others. 

The country also ranks 59th in the world and third in Africa in terms of creative output, which covers trademarks by origin; global brand value; industrial designs by origin; ICTs and organizational model creation; cultural and creative services exports; national feature films; entertainment and media market; printing and other media; manufacturing; creative goods exports; online creativity etc.

The country’s worst areas of performance are in the sophistication of its market, where it is ranked 128th in the world. It also performed badly in the area of knowledge and technology outputs, ranking 122nd in that regard. 

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is the 7th in Africa and 90th in the world. Tanzania is a star in Africa in terms of its creative outputs, ranking 44th globally and second in Africa, behind just Mauritius. 

Its worst performance areas are in human capital and research, where it ranks 125th in the world; as well as in the area of business sophistication, where it ranks 119th in the world. 

The remaining three in Africa’s top ten are: 

Egypt — 94th in the world and 8th in Africa

Namibia — 100th in the world and 9th in Africa

Rwanda — 102th in the world and 10th in Africa. 

Africa’s most populous country Nigeria ranks 118th in the world and 19th in Africa, behind Senegal, Botswana, Malawi, Madagascar, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Cote d’ivoire, Burkina Faso, in that order. 

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Below is a tabular representation of the ranking across all the performance indicators. 

most innovative countries Africa 2021 most innovative countries Africa 2021 most innovative countries Africa 2021 most innovative countries Africa 2021

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer