13 Most Innovative Countries In Africa

Written by Dana Sanchez

You won’t find an African country among the world’s top 25 performers for innovation, but several low-income African countries are outperforming their peers based on GDP, earning the designation “innovation achievers.”

Co-published by Cornell University, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and A.T. Kearney, the Global Innovation Index goes beyond traditional measures of innovation such as research and development, and has evolved into a benchmarking tool used to evaluate progress. It ranks 141 countries’ strengths and weaknesses on 81 indicators including institutions, human capital, infrastructure, market sophistication, business sophistication, knowledge and technology outputs and creative outputs. These are the 13 most innovative countries in Africa, along with their overall global rankings out of 141.

Windhoek, Namibia. Photo: Gary Latham/Getty Images.

13. Namibia Ranked No. 107 out of 141 countries

Market stalls, Great Mud Mosque, Djenne. Photo: Timothy Alle/Getty Images

12. Mali – Ranked No. 105 out of 141 countries

Island of Fogo Mosteiros, Cabo Verde

11. Cabo Verde – Ranked No. 103 out of 141 countries

Avenue Kwame Nkruma, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Photo: Tom Cockrem/Getty Images

10. Burkina Faso – Ranked No. 102 out of 141 countries

Blantyre CBD, Malawi. Photo: ntyre CBD, Malawi
Credit: Christopher Scott/Getty Images

9. Malawi – Ranked No. 98 out of 141 countries

Maputo skyline with crane. Photo: Dana Sanchez

8. Mozambique – Ranked No. 95 out of 141 countries

Kigali, Rwanda. Photo: Michael Sugrue/Getty Images

7. Rwanda – Ranked No. 94 out of 141 countries

Nairobi, Kenya. Getty

6. Kenya – Ranked No. 92 out of 141 countries

Workers polish diamonds in Gaborone. Photo: Monirul Bhuiyan/Getty Images

5. Botswana – Ranked No. 90 out of 141 countries

Momar Sar weekly market, Senegal. Photo: Aldo Pavan/Getty Images

4. Senegal – Ranked No. 84 out of 141 countries

Market Street, Victoria, Mahe Island, Seychelles. Photo: Jan Greune/Getty Images

3. Seychelles – Ranked No. 65th out of 141 countries

Photo: Dimitri Vervitsiotis/Getty Images

2. South Africa – Ranked No. 60 out of 141 countries

Ice-cream seller on motorcycle in Mauritius. Photo: John Borthwick/Getty Images

1. Mauritius – Ranked No. 49 globally out of 141 countries

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