Nigeria has been ranked as the highest-performing economy among top African countries included in the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) world competitiveness ranking 2026.
The IMD ranking, which covered 70 countries, evaluates economies across four broad pillars: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure.
The economic performance pillar assesses factors such as domestic economic activity, international trade and investment, employment, and prices.
Analysis of the IMD data indicated that Nigeria achieved a score of 45.2 points, ranking 55th worldwide.
This puts Nigeria ahead of five other African countries that were assessed based on their economic performance.
According to the IMD, South Africa achieved the second-highest ranking in the Africa group, with a score of 36.27, placing 64th worldwide, while Ghana secured the third position with 34.6 points and a global ranking of 65th.
Kenya secured the fourth position on the continent
