Nigeria has failed to make the cut as one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most innovative economy prompting questions about the efforts made so far to ensure that the country’s current economic slump is only temporary and does not become a problem that lingers.
In November 2022 the population of Nigeria was put at 217 million. This is massive by any standard. But the massive revelation also got off a missive for a lot of people: was a country that had seen its population surge to such record number ready to to carter for everyone?
Nigeria’s struggle to plan is a historic deficiency. In all the years the country has spent as an entity,there has been no clear plan to make one of the world’s most prodigiously gifted countries tap into its endless potentials and deliver prosperity to its people.What there is instead is a country that has stumbled from one year to another and from one policy to another often without any coherent plan.
This inability to plan has also sorely affected Institutions in Nigeria leaving yawning gaps through which the muck of corruption has leaked to smear the image of Nigeria.
There has also been boundless frustration served young people like a beaker of bitter medicine. Ask any hastily collected set of young people in Nigeria today what they think the immediate future holds for them and they will point at the borders. With people of all age groups fleeing Nigeria as if something was hot on their trail, many young people who should be drivers of the economy see nothing to stay back for or hold on to. They too have been fleeing in their droves.
With the general pattern favouring those who perch on the borders, poring over exit routes, what do the omens say for the Nigerian economy?
Recession has been a recurring rot as has been the inclination of the country to put consumption above production.While poverty has soared, insecurity has swiftly compounded the devastating impact of poverty on ordinary people and their families. What has quickly become the case is an economy that is a basket case, one that is a case study in how not to manage a country, its resources and its people.
According to the recently released World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO’s ) Global Innovation Index (GII) 2022,Mauritius, South Africa, Botswana, Kenya and Morocco have ranked far above Nigeria as countries with the most innovative economies.
Mauritius is Africa’s most innovative economy and ranked 45th globally with 34.4 per cent score. Nigeria ranked 114 globally, scoring 16.9 per cent to place 13th in Africa.
Globally, South Africa ranked 61st and second in Africa with 29.8 per cent score. Morocco, which was eight in the region, ranked 67th globally with a 28.8 per cent score.
Botswana ranked third in Africa and 86th globally with a 23.9 per cent score; Kenya was positioned 88th globally with 22.7 per cent and fourth in Africa. On the global map, Kenya was followed by Egypt, which ranked 89th and 15th in Africa with 22.7 per cent.
The question is invariably why Nigeria should continue to play catch-up to clearly inferior African countries who only have their noses in front because of sound management and strong economic policies. With Nigeria having just gone through hotly disputed elections, how much longer can an economy that lags behind be expected to keep restless Nigerians on the leash. It should be an eternal worry for the authorities in Nigeria that the metrics are simply not looking up. If the trend holds, the consequences will be dire and devastating in the long run.
It is heartwarming that the ranking shows a continent on the rise, one crucially heading in the right direction. According to WIPO in the last 20 years, Africa’s Internet and digital penetration have grown to some 570 million Internet users, thanks to innovation that led to more than 1.2 million kilometers of Internet cables across the world’s ocean floors.
WIPO also believes these numbers will continue to rise with the arrival of SpaceX’s Starlink and Google’s Equiano to further drive digital penetration on the continent.
It is clear what Nigeria must do to improve the innovativeness of its economy and its ranking on the WIPO index for whatever it is worth. The country must pounce like a wounded lion on those factors that have led to the dominance of other African countries on the innovation scene.
There must be a sense of urgency to it as Nigeria is already behind as it stands.
Kene Obiezu,
Twitter:@kenobiezu
