Competitiveness is stalling across sub-Saharan Africa as Tanzania, Ethiopia, Senegal and Uganda are the only countries managed to improve performance consecutively for five years since 2010.
Tanzania managed to move up three notches to improve its ranking on the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) for 2017-2018 to 113th position, out of the 137 countries ranked.
The country was ranked 116th on the 2016-2017 index released last year.
The report is an annual assessment of the factors driving countries’ productivity and prosperity. It pointed out that 10 years on from the global financial crisis, the prospects for a sustained economic recovery remains at risk due to a widespread failure on the part of leaders and policymakers to put in place reforms necessary to underpin competitiveness and bring about much-needed increases in productivity
For the ninth consecutive year, the report found Switzerland to be the world’s most competitive economy, narrowly ahead of the United States and Singapore.
Other G20 economies in the top 10 were Germany (5), the United Kingdom (8) and Japan (9).
China was the highest ranking among the BRICS group of large emerging markets, moving up one rank to 27.
Drawing on data going back 10 years, the report highlighted in particular three areas of greatest concern. These included the financial system, where levels of “soundness” were yet to recover from the shock of 2007 and in some parts of the world are declining further.
This, it said was of concern given the important role the financial system will need to play in facilitating investment in innovation related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Another key finding “is that competitiveness is enhanced, not weakened, by combining degrees of flexibility within the labour force with adequate protection of workers’ rights.
“With vast numbers of jobs set to be disrupted as a result of automation and robotisation, creating conditions that can withstand economic shock and support workers through transition periods will be vital.”
GCI data also suggested that the reason innovation often failed to ignite productivity was due to an imbalance between investments in technology and efforts to promote its adoption throughout the wider economy.
“Global competitiveness will be more and more defined by the innovative capacity of a country. Talents will become increasingly more important than capital and therefore the world is moving from the age of capitalism into the age of talentism.
“Countries preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and simultaneously strengthening their political, economic and social systems will be the winners in the competitive race of the future,” the Founder and Executive Chairman, WEF, Klaus Schwab said.
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