Morocco Takes Lead in 2017 Africa Capacity Report

Morocco Takes Lead in 2017 Africa Capacity Report

The 2017 Africa Capacity Report showed that Morocco ranks in the first position at the continental level in terms of economic capacity building.

The report, issued by the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), features a capacity ranking putting Morocco in the first place with a capacity index score of 71.6% ahead of Tanzania (68.8%), Rwanda (68.2%) and Mauritius (67.3%).

The Report argues that capacity remains a problem for African economies generally, not just for Science Technology and Innovation (STI). Even though two-thirds of African countries have STI policies and strategies, their capacity to implement them remains very low, the report notes.

It adds that 91 percent of the 44 surveyed African countries consider training a High or Very High priority in STI.

“Other areas also rated as High or Very High priority were information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure (80 percent), patent rights and trademarks (80 percent), investment (75 percent), production/publication of scientific papers (72 percent), policy/strategy (70 percent), regulation/laws (65 percent),” says the document.

The report was unveiled on the sidelines of the African Economic Conference, held in Dakar on March 23-25. It assesses 44 African countries based on empirical data

The document calls on African countries to further invest in capacity building in the fields of science, technology and innovation with a view to strengthening the competitiveness of their economies.

CATEGORIES
Share This