Kenya ranked second leading innovator in Africa

Astral-Aerial Solutions, drone-powered solutions in agriculture, on Monday March 12 2018.The drone, could be used throughout the crop cycle to provide data for irrigation and nitrogen-level management. [David Njaaga,Standard]

Kenya is now the second leading innovation hub in sub-Saharan Africa, a new report shows.

According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation, only South Africa ranks higher than Kenya on matters innovation at position one, while Mauritius comes in third.

"Since 2012, sub-Saharan Africa has had more economies outperforming relatively well on innovation compared to their level of economic development than any other region. This year, these include Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, and Mozambique," reads the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2019 in part. 

The report ranks South Africa 63rd globally, with Kenya coming at position 77 and Mauritius position 82.

According to the report, Switzerland is the leading innovation hub in the world followed by Sweden and the US respectively.

"This year, Rwanda makes significant progress and ranks 94th, up five positions from 2018. It is the top economy in the low-income group and shows a strong performance in capital formation, ease of getting credit, firms offering formal training, and high-technology imports," says the report.

Now its 12th edition, the GII is co-published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organisation.

It ranks 129 economies based on 80 indicators such as mobile-phone app creation and high-tech exports.