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In the latest report titled Global Innovation Index 2022 released by World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Kenya dropped to position four in Africa’s most innovative countries ranking.
According to the ranking, Kenya was replaced by Botswana in Africa’s top three innovative economies.
From the report, Botswana was a new entrant to the continent’s top three, a list led by Mauritius and South Africa respectively.
Kenya was, however, recognised for overperforming above expectations on innovation relative to its level of economic development.
President William Ruto tries out virtual reality headsets at the Jamhuri Tech and Innovation Summit at KICC, Nairobi, on December 11, 2022.
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William Ruto
“India, Kenya, the Republic of Moldova, and Vietnam hold the record by outperforming for the 12th year in a row,” read part of the report on overperforming innovative economies.
In the period under review, Kenya registered over 30,000 companies and was among the continent’s adopters of mobile phones and digital technology.
Globally, Kenya was ranked at position 88 with a 22.7 per cent score followed by Egypt at position 89 with a score of 22.7 per cent. Mauritius had a 34.4 per cent score, South Africa had a 29.8 per cent score and Botswana had a 23.9 per cent score.
Switzerland held the first position globally for the 12th year in a row at a 64.6 per cent score followed by the United States with a 61.8 per cent score.
The report identified areas where innovation is essential to drive the creation of ideas, businesses, and solutions that address challenges faced by citizens.
In addition, it tracks the current state of global innovation. In the latest ranking, the report covered 132 countries.
Meanwhile, some of the areas of focus include entrepreneurship, food security, local food production, digital innovation for future work, and energy solutions.
Conclusively, the report urged governments to capitalise on two novel innovation waves, the Digital Age Innovation wave and the Deep Science Innovation wave noting that the positive effects of the two waves will take a long time to materialise.
“If the Digital Age and Deep Science innovation waves can be deployed effectively, and if governments address the urgent matters discussed in the GII 2022 Special theme section, then innovation-driven productivity growth and its effect on our well-being will be high,” the report stated.
President William Ruto (center) and Sports CS Ababu Namwamba (right) at the Kenya Innovation Week Expo on Tuesday, December 6, 2022
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State House
