Tanzania tops list of innovative countries

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania is leading on the list of low income countries in innovation, a newly released report reveals.

The report titled ‘Global Innovation Index (GII)-2018’ released recently shows, however, that Tanzania remains the top-ranked low-income country (92nd) globally, gaining four positions from last year.

Below Tanzania, other low income countries that were highlighted in the report with their global ranking in brackets include Rwanda (99), Senegal (100), Uganda (103), Madagascar (106), Nepal (108), Mali (112), Zimbabwe (113), Malawi (114) and Mozambique (115).

“A strong consistency is also evident among low-income countries, with eight out of 10 economies remaining in the top 10 in this group,” reads part of the report.

In Sub- Sahara Africa, Tanzania is ranked fifth in the group of innovation achievers behind South Africa, Mauritius, Kenya and Botswana.

According to the report, Sub-Saharan Africa has been performing well in innovation and that since 2012 the region has had more countries among the group of innovation achievers than any other.

“It will be important for Africa to preserve its current innovation momentum,” the report recommended.

The key factor that gave Tanzania more credit on the list was the innovation of the improved stove that reduces consumption of firewood

According to the report, using the invasive wood species in arid lands contributes to controlling bush encroachment, which is otherwise a menace in arid lands, while the use of organic waste contributes to cleaning.

“Work led by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in Tanzania found that on-farm firewood supply ranged from 0.5 to 8 metric tonnes per hectare for a variety of tree species,” read further the report.

“When the utilization of the firewood was compared between three-stone open fire and improved cook stoves, the latter consumed 67per cent less firewood and reduced gas emissions by 60per cent,” read part of the report.

The GII 2018 was jointly prepared by the Cornell University, Business school for the world-INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (Wipo).