The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF) has published the Global Knowledge Index 2024 (GKI), which assesses the knowledge performance of 141 countries around the world.
The index is based on a methodology that examines several key pillars of knowledge, each of which is assigned a score from 1 to 100.
These pillars include education, research and development, innovation, technology, infrastructure and access to information. Countries are then ranked according to their average performance in these areas, with a global knowledge index of 47.8.
At the global level, the Nordic countries largely dominate this ranking. Sweden ranks first with a score of 68.28, followed by Finland (67.99), Switzerland (67.91), Denmark (66.84) and the Netherlands (66.84).
Other countries complete the top 10 of the 2024 Global Knowledge Index, with Luxembourg in 6th place (66.48), followed by the United States (7th, 66.24), the United Kingdom (8th, 65.82), Norway (9th, 65.77) and Austria (10th, 64.99).
On the African continent, several countries lag far behind in terms of knowledge development, with the majority of them well below the world average. Only two countries are above the world average: Seychelles and Mauritius.
In Africa, Seychelles ranks 45th in the world with a score of 52.97, followed by Mauritius (52nd in the world, 50.85). They are followed by Cape Verde (74th in the world, 46.31) and Botswana (79th in the world, 45.75). Tunisia is ranked 5th in Africa and 82nd in the world with a score of 45.05.
South Africa follows in 84th place in the world with a score of 44.69, followed by Egypt (90th in the world, 44.02), Namibia (95th in the world, 43.62) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) much further down the rankings.
Morocco is ranked 98th in the world with a score of 42.76, while Nigeria is 103rd with a score of 40.31.
The bottom 10 places are occupied by African countries such as Guinea (132nd, 30.18), followed by Mozambique (133rd, 30.02) and Mali (134th, 29.03).
