Rwanda has been ranked as the leading low-income country in Sub-Saharan Africa with the fastest broadband speed, with Madagascar taking 2nd place.
This was disclosed in the latest Global Innovation Index (GII) report released by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
The report shows that Rwanda performs significantly above average in six pillars in the low-income group economies. The six pillars used in measuring this include institution, human capital and research, infrastructure, market sophistication, business sophistication, as well as knowledge and technology outputs.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, Rwanda performs above the regional average in three pillars; institutions, human capital and research, and infrastructure.
According to the research, Rwanda’s performance exceeds expectations for its level of development when measured in terms of GDP but falls short when compared to innovative investments in terms of outputs.
In comparison to the GII reports from 2020 and 2019, the 2021 study reveals that Rwanda performs better in terms of innovation inputs than innovation outputs.
By assessing the innovation performance of 132 economies and identifying both innovation strengths and shortcomings, it exposes the most innovative economies worldwide.
The most inventive nations in Africa, according to the GII’s 15th edition, are Mauritius, South Africa, and Morocco, all of which have greatly improved their standing relative to developed economies in recent years.
Read also: Zimbabwe Begins Fibre Optic Project, Prepares To Become Africa’s Internet Hub
Under the lower-middle income category, Tunisia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe exceeded expectations, whilst Mozambique and Burundi “outperformed on innovation relative to their development” under the low-income category.
The GII’s 2022 edition, which displays productivity, growth, and other changing issues, analyzes the most recent global breakthroughs and trends against an ongoing Covid-19 epidemic.
The future of innovation-driven growth is the theme of this edition, and it offers an opinion on whether stagnation and low productivity growth will continue.
Rwanda’s Ranking A Decade Ago
A decade ago, Rwanda overtook Ghana and became the country with the fastest broadband Internet in Africa, according to statistics from Ookla’s NetIndex.
Then, the 20 report showed that Rwanda had download speeds of up to 7.28 Mbps from 3.28 Mbps six months earlier, emerging 65th in the world.
The then Minister of Youth and ICT, Jean Philbert Nsengimana, welcomed the development, although he said there is a lot more than Rwanda needs to do.
“This shows that our efforts are paying off, although we still need to do more in the area of affordability of broadband.
“Rwanda’s performance in broadband speed is a result of deliberate efforts of the government that invested in fibre optic rollout and purchase of capacity,” said Nsengimana.
He added that part of the plan to make broadband affordable reduced the cost from US$700 Mbps to US$ 125 Mbps during peak hours and US$60 off-peak.
What Is The World Intellectual Property Organisation?
WIPO serves as a global forum for information, cooperation, and services related to intellectual property (IP). It is a self-supporting organisation of the UN with 193 member nations that assists governments, corporations, and society in realising the advantages of IP.
The goal of the organisation is to take the lead in creating a fair and efficient international IP system that fosters creativity and innovation for the good of all. WIPO was founded in 1967 and had a mission, regulatory bodies, and processes outlined in the WIPO Convention.
It provides a policy platform for developing fair international IP laws for a changing world, international services for defending IP internationally and settling legal disputes, as well as technical infrastructure for tying IP systems together and exchanging knowledge.
To help all nations use IP for the development of their economies, societies, and cultures, WIPO also offers cooperation and capacity-building programs. It provides a global source of IP knowledge.
The headquarters of WIPO, a division of the UN, is located in Geneva, Switzerland.