Namibia improves competiveness
14 October 2019 | Local News
Namibia improved its position on the Global Competitiveness Index by six points and is now ranked 94th among 141 countries.
The index measures national competitiveness - defined as the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity and long-term economic growth.
The report by the World Economic Forum measures the strength of 103 key indicators, such as inflation, digital skills and trade tariffs, arranged into 12 indicators.
Each indicator, or 'pillar', uses a scale from 0 to 100 to show how close an economy is to the ideal state, or 'frontier', of competitiveness in that area.
With a total score of 54, Namibia was one of the few sub-Saharan countries that scored above 50.
“Led by Mauritius (52nd), sub-Saharan Africa is overall the least competitive region, with 25 of the 34 economies assessed this year scoring below 50,” according to the report.
South Africa was the second most competitive in the region, at the 60th position, while Namibia (94th), Rwanda (100th), Uganda (115th) and Guinea (122nd) all improved significantly, the index showed.
“The lowest median regional average is sub-Saharan Africa's (46.3), where 17 of the 34 economies covered by the index are among the bottom 20 globally,” according to the report.
However, it says that many countries in the region have improved their competitiveness performance this year, helping sub-Saharan Africa become one of the most improved regions (+2.3%).
According to the index Namibia was ranked 56th globally in the institutions category with a score of 57. It was 94th for infrastructure (58 points) and 91st for ICT adaptation with a score of 58 points.
For its macro-economic stability Namibia was ranked 99th (79 points), for health it ranked 117th (53 points), 98th for skills (55 points) and for product market 83rd (54 points).
Further to that the country was ranked 44th for its labour market (64 points), 41st for its financial system (69 points) and 122nd for its market size (37 points).
For business dynamism it was ranked 116th (51 points) and 80th for innovation capability (36 points).
With a score of 84.8, Singapore is the world's most competitive economy, overtaking the US, which falls to second place.
Hong Kong SAR, The Netherlands and Switzerland round up the top five.
The least competitive country was Chad. The report found that as monetary policies begin to run out of steam, it is crucial for economies to boost research and development, enhance the skills base of the current and future workforce, develop new infrastructure and integrate new technologies, among other measures.
ELLANIE SMIT
The index measures national competitiveness - defined as the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity and long-term economic growth.
The report by the World Economic Forum measures the strength of 103 key indicators, such as inflation, digital skills and trade tariffs, arranged into 12 indicators.
Each indicator, or 'pillar', uses a scale from 0 to 100 to show how close an economy is to the ideal state, or 'frontier', of competitiveness in that area.
With a total score of 54, Namibia was one of the few sub-Saharan countries that scored above 50.
“Led by Mauritius (52nd), sub-Saharan Africa is overall the least competitive region, with 25 of the 34 economies assessed this year scoring below 50,” according to the report.
South Africa was the second most competitive in the region, at the 60th position, while Namibia (94th), Rwanda (100th), Uganda (115th) and Guinea (122nd) all improved significantly, the index showed.
“The lowest median regional average is sub-Saharan Africa's (46.3), where 17 of the 34 economies covered by the index are among the bottom 20 globally,” according to the report.
However, it says that many countries in the region have improved their competitiveness performance this year, helping sub-Saharan Africa become one of the most improved regions (+2.3%).
According to the index Namibia was ranked 56th globally in the institutions category with a score of 57. It was 94th for infrastructure (58 points) and 91st for ICT adaptation with a score of 58 points.
For its macro-economic stability Namibia was ranked 99th (79 points), for health it ranked 117th (53 points), 98th for skills (55 points) and for product market 83rd (54 points).
Further to that the country was ranked 44th for its labour market (64 points), 41st for its financial system (69 points) and 122nd for its market size (37 points).
For business dynamism it was ranked 116th (51 points) and 80th for innovation capability (36 points).
With a score of 84.8, Singapore is the world's most competitive economy, overtaking the US, which falls to second place.
Hong Kong SAR, The Netherlands and Switzerland round up the top five.
The least competitive country was Chad. The report found that as monetary policies begin to run out of steam, it is crucial for economies to boost research and development, enhance the skills base of the current and future workforce, develop new infrastructure and integrate new technologies, among other measures.
ELLANIE SMIT
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