Nigeria has emerged as Africa’s best-performing economy on the economic performance pillar of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Ranking 2026, despite slipping further in the overall global competitiveness rankings due to persistent infrastructure deficits, weak institutions and macroeconomic challenges.
The IMD report, which assessed 70 economies across four key pillars—economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure—ranked Nigeria 55th globally on economic performance with a score of 45.2, the highest among the six African countries evaluated.
Nigeria outperformed South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia and Botswana on the economic performance pillar, recording a 26.95-point lead over Botswana, the lowest-ranked African country in the assessment.
According to the report, South Africa ranked second in Africa with 36.27 points (64th globally), followed by Ghana with 34.6 points (65th), Kenya with 33.19 points (66th), Namibia with 22.3 points (68th) and Botswana with 18.25 points (69th).
The economic performance pillar evaluates domestic economic activity, international trade and investment, employment, and price developments, indicating that Nigeria delivered stronger economic outcomes than its continental peers during the review period.
However, despite leading Africa in economic performance, Nigeria’s overall competitiveness weakened, with the country dropping to 68th out of 70 economies in the 2026 rankings from 67th in 2025, after scoring 38.8 points.
The report attributed the decline to deteriorating performance across several competitiveness indicators.
Government efficiency slipped to 53rd from 50th a year earlier, while business efficiency declined to 63rd from 59th. Infrastructure remained Nigeria’s weakest area, with the country falling to 70th globally, down from 68th in the previous ranking.
On the economic performance sub-indicators, Nigeria ranked 51st in the domestic economy, 64th in international trade, 64th in international investment, 61st in prices and 64th in employment.
The report also revealed a mixed performance across other competitiveness indicators.
Nigeria placed 16th globally in public finance and 15th in tax policy, reflecting improvements in fiscal management. However, it ranked 69th in both institutional framework and societal framework, highlighting governance and institutional weaknesses.
Under the business efficiency pillar, Nigeria ranked 22nd in the labour market but finished 70th in finance, underscoring persistent challenges in access to financing for businesses.
The IMD report found that Nigerian business executives identified high borrowing costs, exchange rate volatility and inflation as the country’s biggest constraints to competitiveness.
According to the survey, 67.6 per cent of respondents identified borrowing costs as their primary concern, followed closely by exchange rate volatility (67.3 per cent) and inflation (61.2 per cent).
Other concerns cited by business leaders included global uncertainty (48 per cent), supply chain disruptions (33 per cent) and labour constraints (32 per cent).
The report also identified insecurity, insurgency, banditry, unreliable electricity supply and transport bottlenecks as key structural obstacles preventing Nigeria from improving its overall competitiveness.
The findings suggest that while Nigeria continues to outperform other African economies on economic performance, sustained reforms aimed at strengthening institutions, improving infrastructure and reducing the cost of doing business will be critical to boosting its global competitiveness.
The ranking comes as Nigeria records signs of economic recovery.
The country’s economy expanded by 4.07 per cent year-on-year in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2025, while S&P Global Ratings recently upgraded Nigeria’s long-term foreign and local currency credit ratings to ‘B’ from ‘B-‘, citing the Federal Government’s economic reforms, improved foreign exchange liquidity, stronger fiscal revenues and rising external reserves.
Earlier in the year, S&P had reaffirmed Nigeria’s sovereign credit rating at B- with a positive outlook, following its November 2025 decision to revise the country’s outlook from stable to positive while maintaining its B-/B foreign and local currency ratings, reflecting cautious optimism over Nigeria’s ongoing economic recovery and fiscal reform agenda.
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