Kenya has moved up three places to position 96th in the 2016 Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) Report, published by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The GCI report is an annual assessment of the factors driving productivity and prosperity in 138 countries. The degree to which economies are open to international trade in goods and services is directly linked to both economic growth and a nation’s innovative potential.
However, the report notes that corruption (17.8%) still remains the most problematic factor for doing business in Kenya followed by the country’s tax rate at 13.7%, access to financing at 11.5% and other problematic factors as shown in the table below.
For the eighth consecutive year, Switzerland ranks as the most competitive economy in the world, narrowly ahead of Singapore and the US. Following them is the UK which advanced three places from last year, with the latter’s GCI score being based on pre-Brexit data.
Rwanda emerged as one of the most improved countries in sub-Saharan Africa up six places to position 52. Mauritius and South Africa still remain the most competitive economies in Sub Saharan Africa registering more modest improvements, climbing to 45 and 47 respectively as. Ethiopia remained unchanged at 109 while Nigeria slipped three places to position 127as shown in the table below.