It is no longer in doubt whether Africa is moving in tandem with current global realities of technological innovations because, from the North to the east, south, and west of the continent, nations are increasingly maximising their innovative capabilities, which in turn is bringing creative innovations to some of the existing problems.
Though the continent still lags behind some of the world’s most advanced innovative countries, efforts by various African nations are changing the narrative, going by ratings from the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s global innovation index (GII 2022), which bring some rays of hope as they show that African nations are striving to be at their best in terms of innovation to meet up with their counterparts across other continents.
We hereby present to you the ten most innovative African nations based on their activities, regulations, and support of innovation as of 2022.
Mauritius
The tropical island of Mauritius ranks as number one on the list of the most innovative countries in Africa and 45th globally, making it the only African country to be among the top 50 innovative countries globally.
This feat is stimulated by the country’s performance in terms of venture capital deals globally, trademarks, ICT service imports, and other indicators strategically mapped out by the government.
The government of Mauritius, through its National Innovation Framework, is creating an enabling environment that supports the creation of new innovative enterprises and the development of new ideas and scope while also focusing on its ICT and emerging technology sectors to drive transformation.
For instance, the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council (MRIC), to encourage innovations, gives out seed funding to qualified innovators to pursue their goals. It also helps to protect intellectual property rights, which are key to innovation, while also rewarding individuals and organisations that have excelled in their capacities.
Among other things, the Mauritius government is also at the forefront of human development, which is critical to innovation and, as such, is average in terms of creative output and research.
South Africa
With quite a few innovations like electric game-drive vehicles, the speed gun, the development of oil from coal, and smart lock safety syringes, among others, to its name as a nation, South Africa sits at number 2 among the most innovative African countries.
The country’s strength lies partly in its investment in software development, Venture capital funding, and the support given to the creation of new technology businesses through a variety of financial and non-financial incentives by the government to promote innovation.
Also, the South African government is known to be keen on the implementation of innovative activities and policies, especially as it concerns funding for innovations.
Morocco
Morocco, taking pride in itself as one of the most important research destinations and ground for the development of new technologies behind just a few countries worldwide, is a force to reckon with as the third most innovative African country.
The North African nation has continued to perform well in its higher-tech sectors like the manufacturing, pharmaceutical, and automotive industries, as well as the agricultural sector.
All these and more achievements by Morocco wouldn’t have been possible without the extra efforts made by the government in the area of supporting innovative projects.
The government has several programmes to boost its growth and support innovation, among which is the Tatwir R&D and Innovation Programme, which supports qualified projects to develop and strengthen patents and covers about 80% of the cost of the patent process with access to funding.
With that, the nation has leveraged innovation to aid its economic growth.
Tunisia
As of 2022, Tunisia ranked as the fourth most innovative African country according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s Global Innovation Index. This feat was achieved through the government’s dedication to funding innovations, an increased number of youths in the science and tech sectors, and its high-tech exports, just to mention a few.
If anything, the government’s efforts targeted at creating about a million industrial jobs and increasing the value of exports by 2035 are all geared towards further boosting innovation.
The strategy being implemented alongside the country’s existing Startup Act stimulates innovation and entrepreneurship and is supporting the growth of an innovative ecosystem unique to the country.
Botswana
Coming from far behind, Botswana recorded the most outstanding improvement on the continent in terms of innovation between 2021 and 2022 to get placed at number five in Africa in 2022.
The country saw quite a few improvements in its innovations based on the dire need to recover its economy from the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, which pushed its focus on human capital development, research, and support of intellectual property as well as technological creative outputs.
Considered to have an emerging national innovation system that focuses on the development of science and technology, the Botswana government, through partnerships and collaborations with local and international agencies, helps in crowdfunding and grants for innovators, thereby leaving the country with several innovative projects to show for it.
Kenya
Kenya comes in at number six on the continent, showing commitments on the part of the government to improve its status as a tech-driven nation.
Over the years, the government of Kenya has strengthened its cooperation with the tech-savvy generation to support the development of innovations. The strength of the government’s policies is reflected in the creation of a dedicated website to encourage Kenyans with innovations to share and sell their ideas for support.
Through the initiative, which helps innovators with the necessary facilities for startups, the needed guidance and financial support, as well as links to investors, innovation in Kenya is growing in good numbers and fueling economic growth in the East African nation, ranking it high on the continent when it comes to the adoption of digital technology for innovation.
Egypt
Egypt has long been known to be a cradle of inventions and innovations from time immemorial, and that has not changed because the country has continued to advance in technological growth and innovations, thus ranking 7th on the most innovative list for Africa.
Blessed with high-level research institutions, the country has adopted technology usage in all industries and sectors, thereby bringing a boom to its technological quests.
Egypt has a digital strategy that helps nurture innovation and has given rise to development in the usage of emerging technologies in the country.
Ghana
Due to its steady progress in technology over the years, Ghana’s innovative industry is fast developing, and the country is now ranked among the top ten innovative countries on the continent.
With an invention such as an energy-generating compressed gas generator and an enabling environment that gives room for creative output and human capital development and research, Ghana is at the forefront of innovators on the continent creating solutions to the continent’s challenges through technology.
Namibia
Namibia is ranked 9th among the most innovative African countries, and according to the GII report, the country performed above expectations.
It did well in all terms measured, which include infrastructure, Institutions, Human capital, research sophistication, and business sophistication.
Senegal
Senegal is placed 10th in Africa and 99th on the global ranking of most innovative countries. Senegal is blessed with a tech-oriented, youthful population that disrupts the norms with innovations to effect change in society.
Africa is growing and can no longer afford to be complacent with little advancement in innovation; thus, leaders of thought on the continent should know there is a need to invest more in technology and human development to build on the continent’s budding tech stance because the future lies in technology and the innovations we make of it.
