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Ghana placed 13th in Africa and 111th in the world according to the latest Global Competitiveness Report 2017–2018 edition.

This is 3 places better than what was published by the 2016-2017 report.

The Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) tracks the performance of close to 140 countries on 12 pillars of competitiveness. It assesses the factors and institutions identified by empirical and theoretical research as determining improvements in productivity, which in turn is the main determinant of long-term growth and an essential factor in economic growth and prosperity. The pillars are institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market and efficiency and labour market efficiency. The rest are financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation.

Ghana’s best performances were in innovation where it placed 57th in the world. It also placed 59th, 6oth and 62nd in institution, business sophistication and labour market efficiency.
The nation’s worst performances were in health and primary education (120th) and macroeconomic environment (131st).

Mauritius which placed 45th in the world was 1st in Africa followed by Rwanda (52nd in world) and South Africa (61st in the world).

From 4th to 10th were Botswana (63rd), Morocco (71st), Algeria (86th), Kenya (91st), Egypt (100th), Senegal (106th), Seychelles (107th). Ethiopia placed 11th in Africa and 108th in the world whilst Cape Verde (110 in the world), Tanzania (113th) and Uganda (114th) placed 12th, 14th and 15th respectively.

For the ninth consecutive year, the Global Competitiveness Index finds Switzerland to be the world’s most competitive economy, narrowly ahead of the United States and Singapore. Other G20 economies in the top 10 are Germany (5), the United Kingdom (8) and Japan (9). China is the highest ranking among the BRICS group of large emerging markets, moving up one rank to 27.

With Switzerland, Netherlands and Germany remaining stable on first, fourth and fifth spots respectively, the only changes in the top five apply to the United States and Singapore, which swap second and third positions. Elsewhere in the top 10 the big winner is Hong Kong SAR, which jumps three places to sixth, edging out Sweden (7), UK (8) and Japan (9), all of which decline one place. With Finland holding stable in 10th position, the other big winner in the top 20 is Israel, which climbs eight places to 16.

The Global Competitiveness Report 2017–2018 comes out at a time when the global economy has started to show signs of recovery and yet policymakers and business leaders are concerned about the prospects for future economic growth. Governments, businesses, and individuals are experiencing high levels of uncertainty as technology and geopolitical forces reshape the economic and political order that has underpinned international relations and economic policy for the past 25 years. At the same time, the perception that current economic approaches do not serve people and societies well enough is gaining ground, prompting calls for new models of human-centric economic progress.