In the Global Innovation Index 2022 ranking, where Switzerland had the highest score of 64.6, income group rank of 1 and also ranked number 1 in its region, Nigeria’s rank was 114 out of 132 countries, with a score of 16.9, income group rank of 29 and region rank of 13.
In Africa, Mauritius, located in East Africa was ranked number 1, in the 45th position, with a score of 34.4 and income group rank of 6. South Africa ranked the second highest, placing 61. It had a score of 29.8, income group rank of 14 and region rank of 2.
Other African countries were Botswana (86th) and then Kenya (88th). Beyond Mauritius and Botswana, Ghana (95th), Namibia (96th), Senegal (99th), Zimbabwe (107th), Ethiopia (117th) and Angola (127th).
Among these countries, Kenya, Rwanda and Mozambique were recorded to have had outstanding performances.
Despite technological advancement, the world still needs to thrive more in order to achieve 100% or close in the Global Innovation Index Ranking; no country is left out.
In affirmation to this, main findings of the report read:
“Contrary to what historic evidence would suggest, science and innovation investments were thriving at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and boomed in 2021, but their continued resilience is uncertain for 2022 in the face of new challenges.
“The indicators of technological progress in the fields of semiconductor speeds, electric battery prices, the cost of renewable energy (with the exception of wind) and drug approvals show a significant slowdown from long-term trends, and even a decline in the case of drug approvals.
“Technology adoption is progressing, with positive growth rates across technologies measured by the Global Innovation Tracker, and in particular for electric vehicles. However, penetration rates are still medium to low, with the exception of mobile broadband, which reaches the vast majority of the global population.
“Largely due to the short-term influences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the socioeconomic impact of innovation seems to be at a low point, with labour productivity and life expectancy experiencing a significant slowdown if not coming to a complete standstill, and in the case of carbon dioxide emissions, failing to show ongoing reductions in pollution.”
Venture Capital
In terms of investments in African companies, it was revealed that seven of the top 10 most valued VC deals in Africa were in financial services.
South Africa and Egypt both had three deals each in the top 10. WIOCC, a Mauritius-based company, received US$200 million of venture capital that will be used to enhance Africa’s digital infrastructure by expanding connectivity and open access to data centres.
South African Yoco Technologies received US$83 million in 2021 and offers simple card machines and online payment tools to avoid the difficulties that entrepreneurs often face in accessing payment tools.
“The outlook at the start of 2022 was much more somber. In contrast to the impressive quarterly year-on-year growth seen in VC deals between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021 (+47.4 percent), growth in the first quarter of 2022 was notably less strong; +13.2 percent in Q1 2021. Nevertheless, Africa still saw the strongest growth in Q1 2022 (+43.5 percent, relative to Q1 2021),” the report stated.
“In addition, more anecdotal evidence in the second quarter of 2022 – also triggered by tightening monetary policies with a knock-on effect on risk capital – indicates a sharp deceleration or decline in VC deals in the months ahead.”
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