According to a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) report, the most innovative markets in the world in 2022 will be those with the highest levels of innovation across 130 economies.
The 2022 Global Innovation Index (GII) measured each economy’s innovative capacity and output by focusing on a long list of criteria such as human capital, institutions, technology and creative output, as well as market and business sophistication, among others. The GII ranking is based on performance across seven pillars:
- Institutions
- Human capital and research
- Infrastructure
- Market sophistication
- Business sophistication’
- Knowledge and technology outputs
- Creative outputs
Which are the most innovative economies in 2022?
Switzerland is the most innovative economy in the world in 2022 – for the 12th year in a row – followed by the United States, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. China is nearing the top 10 while Türkiye and India enter the top 40 for the first time, according to the GII 2022.
Mauritius ranks first in Africa in Global Innovation Index 2022
According to the report, Mauritius emerged as the most innovative African country and climbed seven places to 45th on the Global Innovation Index (GII). The report said Mauritius has a high human development score, unlike most African countries. Its economy has grown robustly in the last half a century, especially in financial services, tourism and information technology.
Top 10 innovation economies by region
This year, sixteen of the twenty-five Sub-Saharan African economies covered improved their rankings. Botswana advanced the most, climbing to 86th place and passing Kenya (88th) in the region’s top three. Other notable regional improvers include Mauritius (45th), Ghana (95th), Namibia (96th), and Senegal (99th). South Africa remains in 61st place and has failed to improve consistently over time.
Here are the top 10 most-innovative countries in Africa, according to the 2022 Global Innovation Index
- Mauritius
- South Africa
- Kenya
- Cabo Verde
- Tanzania
- Namibia
- Rwanda
- Senegal
- Botswana
- Malawi
African countries that performed below expectations for their level of development.
According to the report, Côte d’Ivoire (109th), Nigeria (114th), Zambia (118th), Cameroon (121st), Benin (124th), Angola (127th) and Mauritania (129th), performed below expectations on innovation.
