Top 10 African countries with the worst infrastructure and least innovation

A low SDG 9 ranking indicates insufficient investment in research, development, and innovation ecosystems.

This slows the expansion of knowledge-based economies and leaves nations unprepared for global technology transitions.

Without innovation, governments struggle to diversify their economies, handle issues like climate change, and compete in fields such as fintech, health tech, and renewable energy.

Nations with weak digital infrastructure, for example, miss out on the digital economy’s revolutionary potential, leaving substantial segments of their populations without access to contemporary financial, educational, and healthcare services.

Although industrialization has been shown to increase job opportunities, a low SDG 9 score indicates that there aren’t many prosperous industries.

This results in fewer job prospects, particularly for young people.

Countries are unable to produce the high-skilled, well-paying employment required to raise people out of poverty and lessen inequality in the absence of industrial development and innovation.

With that said, here are the African countries with the lowest SDG9 ratings as per the Financing Africa report, by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.