Africa needs to become much more competitive, if the continent is to prosper

Sub-Saharan Africa is tending to fall behind other regions in terms of competitiveness. Human capital deficiencies—whether in terms of education or health—infrastructure and high crime levels tend to be deterrents as far as investors are concerned.

Sub-Saharan economies have become more competitive in the past year, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Global Competitiveness Report, published on September 8th. Adjusted for the fact that there is one less country ranked in the 2009/2010 report, 13 of the 26 Sub-Saharan economies rated have improved their standing, while three are unchanged from last year and ten have slipped back. The greatest improvement by far is registered by Uganda, up 20 places at 108th (out of 133 overall), while Lesotho jumps 16 places and Tanzania 13. The worst African performers over the past 12 months have been Mali, down 13 places, Ghana (-12) and Botswana (-10). …