Namibia improves on Innovation Index

ELLANIE SMITWINDHOEKNamibia’s position has improved on the Global Innovation Index for this year.The country has jumped four places to 100th this year in the index released by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). Last year it was ranked 104th.According to the report, the index captures the innovation ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.In Sub-Saharan Africa, only Mauritius (52nd) and South Africa (61st) ranked in the top 65; and only Kenya (85th) and the United Republic of Tanzania (90th) have remained firmly within the top 100 and have improved their performance over the past five years.“No economy has steadily improved its rankings over time.”It adds that a total of ten economies in the region move up the index rankings this year, including Kenya (85th), Namibia (100th), Malawi (107th), Madagascar (110th), Zimbabwe (113th) and Burkina Faso (115th).“On average, the region performs best in institutions, even ranking above the average of the Central and Southern Asia region.“Mauritius ranks highest in the region in the categories for institutions (21st), infrastructure (65th) and creative outputs (31st).“Namibia comes top in human capital and research (57th), and South Africa in market sophistication (23rd), business sophistication (51st) and knowledge and technology outputs (61st).”Technology gapNamibia performed poorly when it comes to technology and knowledge outputs (119th).Overall Switzerland, Sweden and the USA were ranked as the top three countries while Angola, Yemen and Guinea were ranked at the bottom.The report concludes that the global innovation landscape is changing too slowly.“There is an urgent need for this to change, particularly in the context of the Covid-19 crisis. Confronted with an unprecedented crisis, it is important to fully leverage the power of innovation to collectively build a cohesive, dynamic and sustainable recovery.”It says the short-term and longer-term impacts of the pandemic on science and innovation systems have to be monitored and findings acted on.

Namibia improves on Innovation Index

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Namibian Sun 2026-04-23

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Namibia improves on Innovation Index

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Namibian Sun 2026-04-23

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