Out of 132 countries assessed by the Global Innovation Index, Nigeria ranked 114 in its 2022 report, which was released recently. This reinforced the need for Africa’s largest economy to reposition itself and make more significant investments in key areas, which can boost Nigeria’s innovative capacity, making it globally competitive.

Switzerland emerged as the most innovative country from the index analysis, followed by the United States of America, which came second and Sweden third.

Other countries that made the top 10 rankings include the United Kingdom (4^th), Netherlands(5^th), Republic of Korea (6^th), Singapore (7^th), Germany (8^th), Finland (9^th) and Denmark (10^th). 

This showed that Europe accounted for 7 out of the ten countries, while North America had 1 and Asia 2. According to the GII, “Sixteen out of the 25 economies from Sub-Saharan Africa covered this year improved their ranking. Botswana took the biggest leap forward, reaching 86th position and overtaking Kenya (88th) among the top 3 for the region. Other notable improvers within the region are Mauritius (45th), Ghana (95th), Namibia (96th) and Senegal (99th). South Africa remains unchanged in 61st place – and continuing to fail to improve consistently over time”.

The criteria for ranking the top innovative economies in the world include the following: 

• Institutions 
• Human capital and research
• Infrastructure
• Market Sophistication
• Business Sophistication
• Knowledge and technology outputs
• Creative outputs

Mauritius, an island nation ranked 45^th was the most innovative country in Africa, according to the 2022 GII analysis.