Africa – 2023 Index of economic freedom: The Heritage Foundation has released its Global Index of Economic Freedom in the World with a few countries in Africa that stand out.

Africa – 2023 Index of economic freedom

The Heritage Foundation has released its Global Index of Economic Freedom in the World, which is based on 12 quantitative indicators and grouped into four categories: rule of law, government dominance, regulatory efficiency and market openness.

In Africa, Mauritius is the continental leader. Botswana, Tanzania, Côte d’Ivoire, and Cape Verde are close behind and in the lower category. Morocco, the leader in North Africa, is close behind, with South Africa following at a distance. Tunisia continues its slide to 132nd place

At the bottom of the ranking, Algeria is in pole position, along with Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Central Africa, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Liberia and Guinea-Bissau.

Economic freedom leads to prosperity

The most obvious advantage of a regime of economic freedom is that it is most likely to lead to general prosperity, i.e., high or rising incomes and consumption levels for most of the population.

Economic growth depends primarily on the quality of institutions (including economic freedom), even without the presence of natural resources. A good example is Hong Kong, a tiny country without such resources, but which has consistently topped the world index of economic freedom. This freedom has paid high dividends: while Hong Kong’s GDP per capita was 33% of the Canadian level in 1950, it was 108% in 1997.

In recent decades, several governments of poor countries have fortunately allowed greater economic freedom, enabling billions of people to benefit from the growth it facilitates. As a result, between 1981 and 2015, the proportion of the world’s population living in extreme poverty dropped from 42% to 10%.