WIPO’s GII 2022 Report Ranks African Countries Based on their Innovation Economies

The World Intellectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO’s) Global Innovation Index (GII) 2022 report was released this week, ranking countries according to the state of global innovation. Mauritius emerged as Africa’s most innovative economy, ranking 45th globally with a score of 34.4%, followed by South Africa (61st globally, 29.8% score), Botswana (86th globally, 23.9% score), Kenya (88th globally, 22.7% score), and Morocco (67th globally, 28.8% score). Nigeria ranked 114 globally, with a score of 16.9% and ranked 13th in Africa. The GII2022 report tracks the current state of global innovation and identifies areas where innovation is essential to drive the creation of ideas, businesses, and solutions that address challenges faced by citizens, including support for entrepreneurship, food security and local food production, digital innovation for the future of work, and energy solutions. WIPO noted that in the last 20 years, Africa’s Internet and digital penetration have grown to some 570 million Internet users, thanks to innovation that led to more than 1.2 million kilometres of Internet cables across the world’s ocean floors. It added that these numbers will continue to rise with the arrival of SpaceX’s Starlink and Google’s Equiano to further drive digital penetration on the continent.

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