Economic freedom is improving in sub-Saharan Africa, according to this year’s Economic Freedom Index, published by the Heritage Foundation. Progress, however, remains painfully slow. In the Washington DC-based think tank’s scale of 1 to 100, sub-Saharan African nations’ scores on property rights, government integrity, and business freedom are all lower than world averages by 10 points or more.
Mauritius remains the brightest spot as sub-Saharan Africa’s freest nation in the 2021 index, ranking No. 13 among countries worldwide. It is the only country in the region considered ‘mostly free’ – though even in Mauritius, chronic issues with government integrity are considered to hold it back, according to notes by AZA, Africa’s largest non-bank currency broker by trading.
The Republic of Congo had the region’s most improved overall score in the 2021 index, which was just enough for the economy to escape from the lowest ‘repressed’ category. Morocco ranked as the best country in North Africa, and No. 9 for the Middle East and North Africa, and No. 81 worldwide.
Morocco’s overall economic freedom score, unchanged at 63.3, means the economy is seen as ‘moderately free’. A decline in trade freedom was offset by improvements in monetary freedom and other scores. Part of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) initiative must drive at seeing improvements in economic freedom accelerate.
