2. The World Economic Forum
(WEF) measures Nation’s
competitiveness using 12 Pillars.
How Competitive is Nigeria
(and Nigerians) compared with Africa
and the rest of the World?
3. WEF define COMPETITIVENESS as
the set of institutions, policies, and
factors that determine the level of
PRODUCTIVITY of a country.
The level of PRODUCTIVITY, in turn, sets the
LEVEL OF PROSPERITY that can be reached by
an economy. The productivity level also
determines the rates of return obtained by
investments in an economy, which in turn are
the fundamental drivers of its growth rates. In
other words, a more competitive economy is one
that is likely to grow faster over time.
4. WEF uses 12 Pillars derived from 3 COMPONENTS to assess
the competitiveness of Nations:
Global Competitiveness Index (GCI)
BASIC
REQUIREMENTS
EFFICIENCY
ENHANCERS
INNOVATION &
SOPHISTICATION
INSTITUTIONS
HIGHER EDUCATION
AND TRAINING
TECHNOLOGICAL
READINESS
INFRASTRUCTURE
GOODS MARKET
EFFICIENCY
MARKET SIZE
MACROECONOMIC
ENVIRONMENT
LABOR MARKET
EFFICIENCY
BUSINESS
SOPHISTICATION
HEALTH AND
PRIMARY EDUCATION
FINANCIAL MARKET
DEVELOPMENT
INNOVATION
5. These 3 COMPONENTS are also regarded as being In line with
well-known Economic Theory of Stages of Development:
FACTOR-
DRIVEN
STAGE
EFFICIENCY
-DRIVEN
STAGE
INNOVATION
-DRIVEN
STAGE
Countries compete based on their factor endowments—primarily
unskilled labor and natural resources. Maintaining competitiveness at
this stage of development hinges primarily on well-functioning public
and private institutions (pillar 1), a well-developed infrastructure (pillar 2), a
stable macroeconomic environment (pillar 3), and a healthy workforce
that has received at least a basic education (pillar 4).
At this stage, countries begin to develop more efficient production
processes and increase product quality because wages have risen and
they cannot increase prices. Competitiveness is increasingly driven by
higher education and training (pillar 5), efficient goods markets (pillar 6),
well-functioning labor markets (pillar 7), developed financial markets (pillar
8), the ability to harness the benefits of existing technologies (pillar 9), and
a large domestic or foreign market (pillar 10).
Finally, as countries move into the innovation-driven stage, wages will
have risen by so much that they are able to sustain those higher wages
and the associated standard of living only if their businesses are able to
compete with new and unique products. At this stage, companies must
compete by producing new and different goods using the most
sophisticated production processes (pillar 11) and by innovating new ones
(pillar 12).
6. The GCI takes the Stages of Development into account by attributing higher
relative weights to those pillars that are more relevant for an economy
given its particular stage of development. That is, although all 12 pillars
matter to a certain extent for all countries, the relative importance of each
one depends on a country’s particular stage of development.
To implement this concept, the pillars are organized into three
COMPONENTS, each critical to a particular stage of development.
The innovation & sophistication factors COMPONENT includes
the pillars critical to countries in the innovation-driven stage.
FACTOR-
DRIVEN
STAGE
EFFICIENCY-
DRIVEN
STAGE
INNOVATION
-DRIVEN
STAGE
The basic requirements
COMPONENT groups
those pillars most critical
for countries in the
factor-driven stage.
The efficiency enhancers COMPONENT includes those
pillars critical for countries in the efficiency-driven stage.
7. The 12 Pillars are broken down into INDICATORS; Find below
each Pillar and their respective Indicators.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Quality of overall infrastructure
Quality of roads
Quality of railroad infrastructure
Quality of port infrastructure
Quality of air transport infrastructure
Available airline seat kms/week, millions
Quality of electricity supply
Mobile telephone subscriptions/100 pop
Fixed telephone lines/100 pop
INSTITUTIONS
Property rights
Intellectual property protection
Diversion of public funds
Public trust in politicians
Irregular payments and bribes
Judicial independence
Favoritism in decisions of government officials
Wastefulness of government spending
Burden of government regulation
Efficiency of legal framework in settling disputes
Efficiency of legal framework in challenging regs
Transparency of government policymaking
Gov’t services for improved business
performance
Business costs of terrorism
Business costs of crime and violence
Organized crime
Reliability of police services
Ethical behavior of firms
Strength of auditing and reporting standards
Efficacy of corporate boards
Protection of minority shareholders’ interests
Strength of investor protection, 0–10 (best)
Government budget balance, %
GDP
Gross national savings, % GDP
Inflation, annual % change
General government debt, % GDP
Country credit rating, 0–100 (best)
MACROECONOMIC
ENVIRONMENT
HEALTH AND
PRIMARY EDUCATION
Business impact of malaria
Malaria cases/100,000 pop
Business impact of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis cases/100,000 pop
Business impact of HIV/AIDS
HIV prevalence, % adult pop
Infant mortality, deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy, years
Quality of primary education
Primary education enrollment, net %
HIGHER EDUCATION
AND TRAINING
GOODS
MARKET
EFFICIENCY
Secondary education enrollment, gross %
Tertiary education enrollment, gross %
Quality of the educational system
Quality of math and science education
Quality of management schools
Internet access in schools
Availability of research and training
services
Extent of staff training
Prevalence of foreign ownership
Business impact of rules on FDI
Burden of customs procedures
Imports as a percentage of GDP
Degree of customer orientation
Buyer sophistication
Intensity of local competition
Extent of market dominance
Effectiveness of anti-monopoly policy
Extent and effect of taxation
Total tax rate, % profits
No procedures to start a business
No days to start a business
Agricultural policy costs
Prevalence of trade barriers
Trade tariffs, % duty
8. The 12 Pillars are broken down into INDICATORS; Find below
each Pillar and their respective Indicators….(contd.)
TECHNOLOGICAL
READINESS
MARKET SIZE
LABOR MARKET
EFFICIENCY
FINANCIAL MARKET
DEVELOPMENT
Cooperation in labor-employer relations
Flexibility of wage determination
Hiring and firing practices
Redundancy costs, weeks of salary
Pay and productivity
Reliance on professional management
Brain drain
Women in labor force, ratio to men
Availability of financial services
Affordability of financial services
Financing through local equity market
Ease of access to loans
Venture capital availability
Soundness of banks
Regulation of securities exchanges
Legal rights index, 0–10 (best)
• Availability of latest technologies
• Firm-level technology absorption
• FDI and technology transfer
• Individuals using Internet, %
• Broadband Internet subscriptions/100 pop
• Int’l Internet bandwidth, kb/s per user*
• Mobile broadband subscriptions/100 pop
Domestic market size index, 1–7 (best)
Foreign market size index, 1–7 (best)
BUSINESS
SOPHISTICATION
INNOVATION
Local supplier quantity
Local supplier quality
State of cluster development
Nature of competitive advantage
Value chain breadth
Control of international distribution
Production process sophistication
Extent of marketing
Willingness to delegate authority
Capacity for innovation
Quality of scientific research institutions
Company spending on R&D
University-industry collaboration in R&D
Gov’t procurement of advanced tech
products
Availability of scientists and engineers
PCT patents, applications/million pop
Each INDICATOR are measured on a scale of 1 – 7; the higher the better
9. DEFINITION OF PILLARS
The institutional environment is determined by the legal and administrative framework
within which individuals, firms, and governments interact to generate wealth.
INSTITUTIONS
INFRASTRUCTURE
Well-developed infrastructure reduces the effect of distance between regions, integrating the
national market and connecting it at low cost to markets in other countries and regions.
MACROECONOMIC
ENVIRONMENT
The stability of the macroeconomic environment is important for business and, therefore,
is significant for the overall competitiveness of a country
HEALTH AND
PRIMARY EDUCATION
A healthy workforce is vital to a country’s competitiveness and productivity. Workers who are ill
cannot function to their potential and will be less productive.
HIGHER EDUCATION
AND TRAINING
Quality higher education and training is crucial for economies that want to move up the
value chain beyond simple production processes and products.
GOODS MARKET
EFFICIENCY
Countries with efficient goods markets are well positioned to produce the right mix of products and services given their
particular supply-and-demand conditions, as well as to ensure that these goods can be most effectively traded in the economy.
The efficiency & flexibility of the labor market are critical for ensuring that workers are allocated to their
most efficient use in the economy & provided with incentives to give their best effort in their jobs.
LABOR MARKET
EFFICIENCY
FINANCIAL MARKET
DEVELOPMENT
An efficient financial sector allocates the resources saved by a nation’s citizens, as well as those entering
the economy from abroad, to their most productive uses.
TECHNOLOGICAL
READINESS
MARKET SIZEThe size of the market affects productivity since large markets allow firms to exploit economies of scale.
BUSINESS
SOPHISTICATION
INNOVATION
Innovation is particularly important for economies as they approach the frontiers of knowledge
and the possibility of integrating and adapting exogenous technologies tends to disappear.
In today’s globalized world, technology is increasingly essential for firms to compete and prosper.
Business sophistication concerns two elements that are intricately linked: the quality of a
country’s overall business networks and the quality of individual firms’ operations and strategies.
12. GLOBAL COMPETITIVE INDEX 2014 REPORT
Total country reviewed in 2014 is 148, against 44 in 2013
The top three countries in the world in terms of Global
competitiveness are Switzerland (5.67), Singapore (5.61),
Finland (5.54)
The remainder of the top ten are Germany (5.51), United
States (5.48), Sweden (5.48), Hong Kong SAR (5.47),
Netherlands (5.42), Japan (5.40), United Kingdom (5.37)
The top 3 African countries are Mauritius (4.45), South
Africa (4.37), Rwanda (4.21)
Mauritius is ranked 45th in the World, South Africa (69th),
Rwanda (66th)
Of the 21 countries that scored less than GCI of 3.5
(which is the mid of 7), except Pakistan, Venezuela, Timor-
Leste, Myanmar, Haiti and Yemen, all are African countries
13. Total Country in 2014 Total Country in 2013148 144
Global Competitive
Index 2014
120th
3.57
115th
3.67
BASIC REQUIREMENTS BASIC REQUIREMENTS
EFFICIENCY
ENHANCERS
EFFICIENCY
ENHANCERS
136th
3.40
130th
3.52
83rd
3.90
78th
3.96
INNOVATION &
SOPHISTICATION
82nd
3.44
73rd
3.53
NIGERIA
Global Competitive
Index 2013
INNOVATION &
SOPHISTICATION
14. As shown, Nigeria has lost competitiveness in each category. Which
of the Pillars are most affected?
BASIC
REQUIREMENTS
1st Pillar: Institutions
2nd Pillar: Infrastructure
3rd Pillar: Macroeconomic Environment
4th Pillar: Health and Primary Education
BASIC REQUIREMENTS
2014 2013
Rank Score Rank Score
INSTITUTIONS 129 3.08 117 3.33
INFRASTRUCTURE 135 2.28 130 2.29
MACROECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT 46 5.25 39 5.17
HEALTH AND PRIMARY EDUCATION 146 3.20 142 3.04
The Ranking is a function of Country’s performance based on number of countries
reviewed, however, the Score is irrespective and therefore carries more weight as
regards Nigeria’s competitiveness.
Pillar 1: INSTITUTIONS and Pillar 4: HEALTH & PRIMARY EDUCATION accounted for
the most loss of 0.25 and 0.16 points respectively.
This shows that our INSTITUTIONS are getting WEAKER and the QUALITY of our
HEALTH & PRIMARY EDUCATION systems are dropping.
15. EFFICIENCY ENHANCERS
2014 2013
Rank Score Rank Score
HIGHER EDUCATION & TRAINING 120 3.03 113 3.31
GOODS MARKET EFFICIENCY 93 4.09 88 4.16
LABOR MARKET EFFICIENCY 52 4.48 55 4.50
FINANCIAL MARKET DEVELOPMENT 66 4.04 68 4.07
TECHNOLOGICAL READINESS 108 3.08 112 3.08
MARKET SIZE 32 4.66 33 4.63
EFFICIENCY
ENHANCERS
5th Pillar: Higher Education & Training
6th Pillar: Goods Market Efficiency
7th Pillar: Labor Market Efficiency
8th Pillar: Financial Market Development
9th Pillar: Technological Readiness
10th Pillar: Market Size
Pillar 5: HIGHER EDUCATION & TRAINING, is where we experience the highest
weakness. It is a direct effect of the lack of QUALITY of our PRIMARY EDUCATION
System. Our TECHNOLOGY READINESS remains as it was in 2013.
Also, Pillar 10: MARKET SIZE is the only Pillar where our current
Score surpass that of the previous year.
16. INNOVATION & SOPHISTICATION
2014 2013
Rank Score Rank Score
BUSINESS SOPHISTICATION 75 3.89 66 3.96
INNOVATION 100 3.00 78 3.10
INNOVATION &
SOPHISTICATION
11th Pillar: Business Sophistication
12th Pillar: Innovation
Nigeria dropped on both INDICATORS
1st Pillar: Institutions
4th Pillar: Health and Primary Education
5th Pillar: Higher Education & Training
These 3 Pillars are key contributors to a Nation’s
competitiveness; evidently as shown in the analysis, Nigeria
is weak on these Pillars and they amount to Nigeria not
being one of the Competitive economy in the World.
18. THE MOST PROBLEMATIC
FACTORS FOR DOING BUSINESS
NIGERIA
1)Inadequate supply of
infrastructure
2)Corruption
3)Access to financing
4)Policy instability
5)Inefficient government
bureaucracy
6)Inadequately educated
workforce
7)Poor work ethic in national
labor force
8)Crime and theft
9) Tax regulations
10)Inflation
11)Insufficient capacity to
innovate
12)Foreign currency
regulations
13)Tax rates
14)Government
instability/coups
15)Poor public health
16)Restrictive labor
regulations
19. IDENTIFIED COMPETITIVE INDICATORS
NIGERIA
MACROECONOMIC
ENVIRONMENT
Government budget balance, % GDP
Gross national savings, % GDP
General government debt, % GDP
HIGHER EDUCATION
AND TRAINING
Extent of staff training
LABOR MARKET
EFFICIENCY
Hiring and firing practices
Effect of taxation on incentives to work
Country capacity to attract talent
FINANCIAL MARKET
DEVELOPMENT
MARKET SIZE
Legal rights index
Domestic market size index
Foreign market size index
GDP (PPP$ billions)
There are the INDICATORS for which Nigeria achieved a rating of 50th or better
20. NIGERIA & AFRICA
Total country reviewed Nigeria is placed40 19th
AFRICA AVERAGE GCI NIGERIA GCI
EFFICIENCY
ENHANCERS
EFFICIENCY
ENHANCERS
3.59
115th
3.57
120th
INNOVATION &
SOPHISTICATION
INNOVATION &
SOPHISTICATION
AFRICA AVERAGE GCI vs NIGERIA GCI
BASIC REQUIREMENTS BASIC REQUIREMENTS
3.80
114th
3.40
136th
3.40
116th
3.90
83rd
3.19
107th
3.44
82nd
21. Nigeria performed relatively better than Africa average (Ranking &
Score) in terms of EFFICIENCY ENHANCERS and INNOVATION &
SOPHISTICATION, however, in BASIC REQUIREMENTS (Institutions,
Infrastructure, Macroeconomic Environment, Health and Primary
Education), Nigeria is placed 136th of 144 in the World and 32nd of 40
in Africa.
120
136
83 82
115 114 116
107
60 60 60 63
OVERALL BASIC
REQUIREMENT
EFFICIENCY
ENHANCERS
INNOVATION &
SOPHISTICATION
GCI Ranking
Nigeria Africa World
3.57 3.40
3.90
3.443.59 3.80
3.40 3.19
4.40
4.80
4.28
3.92
OVERALL BASIC
REQUIREMENT
EFFICIENCY
ENHANCERS
INNOVATION &
SOPHISTICATION
GCI Score
Nigeria Africa World
Ranking is over 144 Countries Score is from 1 – 7, the
higher the better
22. AFRICA SUMMARY
The top 3 rated countries in Africa are; Mauritius,
South Africa, and Rwanda
The top 3 rated countries in provision BASIC
REQUIEMENTS are; Mauritius (42nd), Seychelles
(52nd), and Botswana (66th)
The top 3 rated countries in provision
EFFICIENCY ENHANCERS are; South Africa
(34th), Mauritius (61st), and Kenya (73rd)
The top 3 rated countries in provision
INNOVATION AND SOPHISTICATION are;
South Africa (37th), Kenya (53rd), Mauritius (57th)
23. TOP 3 COUNTRIES - AFRICA
3rd
4.21
19th
3.57
4.55 3.40
3.73 3.90
3.65 3.44
MAURITIUS
2nd
4.37
4.24
4.54
4.06
1st
4.45
4.97
4.18
3.76
SOUTH
AFRICA
NIGERIA
EFFICIENCY
ENHANCERS
INNOVATION &
SOPHISTICATION
BASIC REQUIREMENTS
RWANDA
2014 POSITION & GCI