- Nigeria ranked 10th in Sub-Saharan Africa and 124th among 158 countries in a global index.
- Nigeria trails South Africa, Mauritius, Namibia, Gabon, Cape Verde, Ghana, Kenya, Botswana and Senegal in the UNCTAD’s 2021 Technology and Innovation Report.
To catch up with the frontier technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, biotechnology, and nanotechnology, Nigeria has to go a long way as the West African nation was ranked 124th among 158 countries in a global index.
The report titled ‘Readiness for Frontier Technologies Index’ ranked 158 countries to understand their preparedness for adopting and using the frontier technologies. The report used five building blocks – ICT deployment, Skills, Research and development activity, Industry activity, and Access to finance, to prepare the report.
Out of the five blocks, Nigeria only performed well in research and development activities, standing 74th. The country’s positions in other blocks are 124th in ICT development, 106th in skills, 155th in industry activity, and 149th in access to finance.
UNCTAD said countries, especially the least developed and those in sub-Saharan Africa, are unprepared to equitably use, adopt and adapt to the ongoing technological revolution.
The report urged all developing countries to adopt frontier technologies while continuing the diversification of their production bases by mastering the existing technologies.
“These countries need to strengthen their innovation systems, as most of them are weak and prone to systemic failures and structural deficiencies,” the report says.
UNCTAD also highlighted some exceptions, like South Africa, Mauritius, Namibia, Gabon, Cape Verde, Ghana, Kenya, Botswana and Senegal as outperformers despite being lower-middle-income countries. According to the index, The United States, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Sweden, Singapore, the Netherlands and South Korea are the top seven countries on the log.
