The GCI is a yearly report published by the WEF, the first of which was released in 1979 and the 2011-12 report covers 142 major and emerging economies. The report assesses the ability of countries to provide high levels of prosperity to their citizens, depending on how productively a country uses available resources.
GCI measures the institutions, policies, and factors that set the sustainable current and medium-term levels of economic prosperity, with rankings calculated from both publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the WEF together with its network of Partner Institutes (leading research institutes and business organisations) in the countries covered by the Report.
In what can be linked to a little semblance of peace and economic improvement following the formation of a national unity government in 2009, Zimbabwe recorded its first rise in many years, ascending a commendable six places to 132 in the world.
“After falling in the rankings for many years, Zimbabwe tentatively reverses the trend this year for the first time, moving up to 132nd place, an improvement of six places in a constant sample,” read the GCI report.
In the assessment of public institutions, Zimbabwe is still weak, but managed to improve measurably, after increasing from 125th two years ago to 107th this year, with its specific areas of improvement being ethics and corruption and government inefficiency, but the GCI indicated that significant room for improvement still remained.
“On the other hand, some major concerns linger with regard to the protection of property rights (140th), where Zimbabwe is second-to-last, reducing the incentive for businesses to invest. Despite efforts to improve its macroeconomic environment—including the dollarization of its economy in early 2009, which brought down inflation and interest rates – the situation continues to be bad enough to place Zimbabwe among the lowest-ranked countries in this pillar (136th), demonstrating the extent of efforts still needed to ensure its macroeconomic stability.”
Weaknesses in other areas included health (137th in the health sub-pillar), low educational enrolment rates and official markets that continue to function with difficulty – particularly with regard to goods and labour markets, where Zimbabwe ranked 124th and 130th, respectively.
Post published in: Zimbabwe News