Despite numerous economic reforms and efforts put in place by the Federal Government, it is still very difficult for companies and people to do business in the country, as Nigeria has been ranked in the 115th position in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) 4.0 Rankings 2018, released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Wednesday.
Nigeria with an overall score of 47.6 out of a total score of 100 placed 115th out of 140 countries analysed in the GCI report. The 2018 WEF’s GCI rankings moved Nigeria up 10 places, having being ranked 125th out of 137 countries raked in 2017.
GCI Analysis
The World Economic Forum defines competitiveness as the ability of the country and its institutions to ensure stable economic growth, which would be stable in the medium term. Global Competitiveness Index 4.0 is a measure of national competitiveness and it is defined as the set of institutions, factors and policies that determine the productivity level of a nation.
A total of 98 indicators were taken into consideration across 140 nations in the GCI report 2018, in order to determine the overall ranking and also to indicate the closeness of an economy to the total ideal state of competitiveness. The indicators were grouped into 12 different pillars in which each of the 140 countries were scored out of 100.
How Nigeria Fared In The Pillars
The most populous African nation scored 42 in Institutions pillar to place 127, also scored 42 in Infrastructures to place 124, 56 in macroeconomic Stability to place 130 out of 140 countries. Nigeria recorded her lowest score of 26 in ICT Adoption to place 123rd.
Meanwhile, Nigeria highest pillar score was in Market Size, where she with a score of 75 out of 100 to place 30th. The country also scored 51 in Health, 40 in Skills, 52 in product Market and 59 out of 100 in Labour Market.
Also, Nigeria scored 44 in Financial System, 55 in Market Dynamism and 31 out of 100 in Innovation Capability.
Why Nigeria Still Ranks Low
- Lack of strong Institutions that should tackle corruption in order to bring confidence in the system.
- Weak public finance sector due to low margins in oil sector.
- Prevalent issues like weak Infrastructures like inadequate power supply, health, education, poor transport network etc.
- Widening inequality gap which has seen more and more Nigerians fall into absolute poverty in the last one year.
- Macro-economic instability which has seen the Nigerian economy struggling with dwindling macro-economic indicators, especially since the first quarter of 2018.
- Low level of ICT due low investment in technology, which was feasible in the pillar rankings, where the country got its lowest score of 26 out of 100 in ICT Adoption.
Top Ranked Nations
The United States regained its top position in 2018, as the country was ranked world number one in GCI 2018 with a score of 85.6, moving up from its second position spot in 2017. Singapore also moved one place upward to second position with a score of 83.5 while Germany ranked third with 82.8 to push 2017 world number one, Switzerland, to fourth position with 82.6 points.
Unfancied Mauritius is the highest ranked African nation on the GCI 2018 ranking with a score of 63.7 in 49th position, followed by South Africa in 67th position, with a score of 60.8 while Morocco is the third best-ranked African country with a score of 58.5 to place 75th. Tunisia is ranked 87th to place fourth in Africa.
Botswana completes the list of top 5 African countries on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) 4.0 Rankings 2018 by placing 90th with a score of 54.5 out of 100.
