UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT

Southern Africa
Table 20.4: KEI and KI rankings for 13 SADC countries, 2012
Rank
Change in
rank since
2000 Country
Knowledge
Economy
Index
Knowledge
Index
Economic
Incentive
Regime Innovation Education ICTs
62 1 Mauritius 5.5 4.6 8.22 4.41 4.33 5.1
67 -15 South Africa 5.2 5.1 5.49 6.89 4.87 3.6
85 -18 Botswana 4.3 3.8 5.82 4.26 3.92 3.2
89 -9 Namibia 4.1 3.4 6.26 3.72 2.71 3.7
Chapter 20
106 -9 Swaziland 3.1 3.0 3.55 4.36 2.27 2.3
115 -4 Zambia 2.6 2.0 4.15 2.09 2.08 1.9
119 -6 Zimbabwe 2.2 2.9 0.12 3.99 1.99 2.6
120 -12 Lesotho 2.0 1.7 2.72 1.82 1.71 1.5
122 -6 Malawi 1.9 1.5 3.33 2.65 0.54 1.2
127 -2 Tanzania 1.8 1.4 3.07 1.98 0.83 1.3
128 -2 Madagascar 1.8 1.4 2.79 2.37 0.84 1.1
129 5 Mozambique 1.8 1.0 4.05 1.76 0.17 1.1
142 -1 Angola 1.1 1.0 1.48 1.17 0.32 1.4
Note: Rankings are for a total of 145 countries.
Source: World Bank
South Africa increased the number of its publications by
23% from 2009 to 2014 but the strongest growth rate was
recorded by Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo,
albeit from a low base. The most prolific countries can
boast of an average citation rate above the G20 average
(Figure 20.6).
Figure 20.5: Women researchers (HC) in Southern Africa,
2012 or closest year
Women (%)
Namibia (2010)
43.7
South Africa (2012)
43.7
With nearly one-third of their publications concentrated in
chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics over the
2008–2014 period, Mauritius and South Africa are more
akin to developed countries than other SADC countries
where research tends to favour health-related sciences.
Almost all countries share an inclination for geosciences,
however (Figure 20.6).
Mauritius (2012)
Madagascar (2011)
Mozambique (2010)
Lesotho (2011)
Zambia (2008)
35.4
32.2
31.0
30.7
41.9
When it comes to international collaboration, South African
and Mauritian scientists stand out once more. Whereas just
over half of South African articles (57%) and two-thirds of
Mauritian articles (69%) had a foreign author over 2008–2014,
the ratio among their SADC neighbours varied from 80% in
Botswana to 96% in Mozambique and Zambia.
Botswana (2012)
Angola (2011)
Tanzania (2010)
Zimbabwe (2012)
27.2
27.1
25.4
25.3
Malawi (2010)
19.5
Note: Data are unavailable for some countries.
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, April 2015
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