Kenya ranked third most Innovative country

It is no secret that Kenya is one of the powerhouses in Africa and the world when it comes to innovation.

Products like MPesa, a mobile money transfer for instance was hatched in Kenya and took the world by storm.

Since it was created in 2006 to December 2016 Kenyans have transferred enough money to build 483 Thika Roads.

Sh15 trillion shillings in total have been moved through Kenyan phones according to the Central Bank data.

Also read: The best and the worst Kenya's capital city has on offer for Investors

Well, Kenya has been ranked the third most innovative country in sub-Saharan Africa by The United Nations Global Innovation Index 2017.

“Since 2012, sub-Saharan Africa has counted more “innovation achiever” countries than any other region.Kenya, Rwanda, Mozambique, Uganda, Malawi, Madagascar and Senegal stand out for being innovation achievers this year, and several times in the previous years,” the survey indicates.

Kenya was at it again in 2017 when it launched the first ever mobile only traded government bonds, M-Akiba which sold out in a record 13days and raised $1.5 million for the government.

In Africa, Kenya comes third after South Africa and Mauritius.

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Globally, Switzerland leads the ranking for the seventh consecutive year, followed by Sweden, the Netherlands, the USA and the UK.

Kenya is ranked number 80 globally, outperforming her development- level peers.

A number of factors has enabled Kenya outshine her peers among them, fast and reliable internet, friendly trade policies and ease of doing business, no wonder it features among top 500 fortune companies investment destinations.

Also read: Kenyans enjoy faster Internet than Americans

In Northern Africa and western Asia, for the seventh consecutive year, Israel topped the innovation index’s category.

The Global Innovation Index 2017 is co-published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO, a specialized agency of the United Nations).

“Efforts to bridge the innovation divide have to start with helping emerging economies understand their innovation strengths and weaknesses and create appropriate policies and metrics,” Soumitra Dutta, Dean, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, Cornell University said.