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The 2018 Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI) published by the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute (GEDI), ranks Nigeria 101st out of 137 countries with 19.7 GEI score, making the country 12th in Africa.

The GEI measures both the quality of entrepreneurship and the extent and depth of the supporting entrepreneurial ecosystem, using 14 areas considered important in the quality of entrepreneurial environment:
opportunity perception; start-up skills; risk acceptance; networking; cultural support; opportunity perception; technology absorption; human capital; competition; product innovation; process innovation; high growth; internationalisation; and risk capital.

Globally, GEI scores improved by 3 percent since last year’s index. There has been a 22 percent increase in product innovation scores, and start-up skills scores is up by 11 percent since the 2017 GEI. This suggests that the global population is becoming more educated and identifying more opportunities to create new products, the report stated.

Five areas, however, declined by 2 percent, which shows that overall, the environment has in some ways become slightly less friendly to entrepreneurship, the report noted. The five areas are: cultural support, human capital, competition, internationalization and risk capital.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region demonstrates strength in product innovation and risk, and has improved by 2.9 percent on average over last year’s score. Israel leads the region with 25 percent; and Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and Algeria ranks 6th, 10th, 12th and 13th, respectively.

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) shows greatest strength in opportunity perception and has improved by 1.5 percent on average over 2017 GEI score. The region’s lowest average scores are in the areas of start-up skills, risk acceptance and risk capital. Tertiary education is not as broadly accessible as in other regions, and entrepreneurial skills are less common, the report stated.

The general risk climate is not as favourable in the region as in other areas, and compared with other regions, capital availability lags behind.

A compilation of top African countries for entrepreneurship in 2018 puts Tunisia as the continent’s leader with 42.4 GEI score. Botswana, which leads SSA, comes second with 35 percent; South Africa, which ranks second in SSA, comes third with 33 percent; and Namibia ranks fourth with 31 percent.

Other top African countries are: Morocco with 29 percent; Egypt, 26 percent; Gabon, 25 percent; Algeria, 24 percent; Swaziland, 24 percent; Rwanda, 21 percent; Ghana, 21 percent; Nigeria, 20 percent; and Zambia with 20 percent.

According to the report, Chad, Mauritania and Burundi are the worst countries for entrepreneurs in the world and in Africa. While, the United States, Switzerland, Canada and the UK are the best countries for entrepreneurs in 2018.