All 54 African Countries Ranked by Productive Capacities (UNCTAD)

Mauritius, Seychelles and South Africa lead Africa in productive capacities, according to UN Trade and Development's 2026 ranking. Mauritius ranks 56th worldwide, ahead of Seychelles (68th) and South Africa (70th). Only four African countries scored above 50 out of 100, with Cabo Verde joining the top three. The results highlight Africa's relatively weak productive capacities despite its abundant natural resources. Mauritius leads Africa with a score of 55 points, supported by strong institutions, digital infrastructure and energy capacity. Its performance shows that countries can develop strong productive capacities without relying heavily on natural resources. Mauritius, Seychelles and South Africa have Africa’s strongest productive capacities, according to rankings released on September 14, 2026, by UN Trade and Development (formerly the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD). The ranking is based on the third edition of the Productive Capacities Index (PCI), following earlier editions released in 2021 and 2023. UN Trade and Development defines productive capacities as the resources, skills and connections that enable an economy to produce goods and services. The index uses 43 indicators to assess the actual and structural productive potential of 195 economies from 2000 to 2024. The indicators are grouped into eight dimensions: human capital, natural capital, energy, transport, information and communication technology (ICT), institutions, private sector development and structural change. The 43 indicators use widely varying units, including kilometers of roads, the number of graduates and megawatts of electricity generation capacity. They are standardized on a scale of 0 to 100 to allow for comparison and aggregation. Each of the eight dimensions is also scored from 0 to 100 using principal component analysis (PCA), a statistical method that assigns weights to indicators based on patterns in the data and reduces overlap among related variables. The weighted scores of the different dimensions are then used to calculate each country's overall score, which is the geometric mean of its eight dimension scores. Mauritius and Seychelles Top African Ranking The use of a geometric mean reflects the equal importance assigned to the eight dimensions, each of which measures a distinct but complementary aspect of productive capacity. This approach makes it difficult for a country to achieve a high overall score if it has a major weakness or a near-zero score in any of the eight dimensions. Two island nations lead the African ranking. Mauritius ranks first in Africa and 56th worldwide, with an overall score of 55 points. Mauritius scores highest in institutions (72.8 points), ICT (72.7 points) and energy (68 points), showing that countries do not necessarily need abundant natural resources to develop strong productive capacities. Seychelles ranks second in Africa and 68th worldwide. South Africa follows in third place (70th worldwide), ahead of Cabo Verde (72nd), Tunisia (99th), Morocco (101st), Botswana (116th), Namibia (122nd) and Algeria (125th). Egypt (129th worldwide) rounds out Africa's top 10. Overall, African countries have relatively low productive capacity scores despite their abundant natural resources. Only four countries on the continent scored above 50 points: Mauritius, Seychelles, South Africa and Cabo Verde. Globally, Denmark ranks first with an overall score of 70.9 points, followed by the United States, Australia, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Walid Kéfi African Countries Ranked by Productive Capacities Mauritius (56th worldwide) Seychelles (68th) South Africa (70th) Cabo Verde (72nd) Tunisia (99th) Morocco (101st) Botswana (116th) Namibia (122nd) Algeria (125th) Egypt (129th) Eswatini (137th) Lesotho (138th) Libya (139th) Senegal (141st) São Tomé and Príncipe (142nd) Djibouti (145th) Côte d’Ivoire (148th) Kenya (149th) Rwanda (150th) Gabon (152nd) Comoros (153rd) Ghana (154th) Zambia (155th) Mauritania (156th) Gambia (157th) Togo (158th) Benin (161st) South Sudan (163rd) Equatorial Guinea (166th) Tanzania (167th) Nigeria (168th) Republic of Congo (169th) Uganda (171st) Liberia (172nd) Cameroon (173rd) Angola (174th) Ethiopia (175th) Mozambique (176th) Guinea (177th) Zimbabwe (178th) Guinea-Bissau (180th) Burkina Faso (181st) Mali (183rd) Burundi (184th) Madagascar (185th) Malawi (186th) Eritrea (187th) Sierra Leone (188th) Sudan (189th) Democratic Republic of Congo (190th) Chad (192nd) Central African Republic (193rd) Niger (194th) Somalia (195th)