South Africa second on Prosperity Index MyZA

Reform and build are the watchwords in Africa as this year’s regional Legatum Institute Prosperity Index™ rankings reveal a continent on the right path to prosperity.

A new report, Insight on Africa, from the Legatum Institute shows that economic growth, improving health standards and greater foreign and domestic investment – amongst other factors – are having a positive impact on prosperity in the region.

However, to continue their progress African states need to undertake further reforms, build better institutions, and improve education and infrastructure.

The report ranks 38 countries in the continent based on their overall level of prosperity according to national wealth and wellbeing in eight sub-categories¹. It investigates changing demographics, safety, and corruption in the continent, as well as assessing Africa’s performance against the Millennium Development Goals.

Insight on Africa will be launched at the African Leadership Network’s annual conference “The Gathering” in Mauritius, ahead of the full global Prosperity Index™ being published on the 29th October.

Botswana leads the African rankings, scoring well in both the Governance and the Entrepreneurship Opportunity sub-indices. South Africa ranks second in prosperity.

Rwanda has experienced a jump from 13th to 9th in the rankings this year, with strong scores in Entrepreneurship Opportunity, Governance, and Health.

The Index reveals cause for concern for Mali, however, falling from 8th to 13th in ranking. The path to prosperity also remains long for Malawi, which has seen a huge fall from 9th to 21st this year. The full rankings for the continent are included below.

Nathan Gamester, Programme Director for the Legatum Prosperity Index™ said: “Our latest report shows that there is reason for cautious optimism in Africa. The potential for development and growth across the world’s most dynamic continent is enormous.

“Good governance and a supportive business environment remain crucial for building a prosperous country. As such, our hope is that growing prosperity across the region will empower the people of Africa to demand more from their governments and institutions, enabling them to progress yet further on the path to prosperity.”

Overall Prosperity Rank: