A new Global Innovation Index (GII) report released by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has ranked Rwanda as the leading low-income country in Sub-Saharan Africa with the fastest broadband speed. Madagascar comes in 2nd place. Among the low-income group economies, Rwanda performs above average in six pillars, namely: institutions, human capital and research, infrastructure, market sophistication, business sophistication, and, knowledge and technology outputs. And in Sub-Saharan Africa, Rwanda performs above the regional average in three pillars; institutions, human capital and research, and, infrastructure. According to the report, relative to GDP, Rwanda’s performance is above expectations for its level of development, however, Rwanda produces fewer innovation outputs relative to its level of innovation investments. The GII report of 2021 shows that Rwanda performs better in innovation inputs than innovation outputs, which was an improvement compared to 2020 and 2019. It reveals the most innovative economies in the world, ranking the innovation performance around 132 economies while highlighting innovation strengths and weaknesses. The 15th edition of the GII also ranks Mauritius, South Africa, and Morocco, which have significantly moved up to developed economies in the rankings over the past few years, as the most innovative African countries. Tunisia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe performed above expectations under the lower-middle income category, while Mozambique, and Burundi “outperformed on innovation relative to their development” in the low-income group. The 2022 edition of the GII tracks the most recent global innovations and trends against an ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, showing productivity, growth, and other evolving challenges. This edition’s thematic focus on the future of innovation-driven growth provides a stance on whether stagnation and low productivity growth are here to stay.
