Visible but Unrecognized: How Global Innovation Indexes Fail to Capture Africa’s Creativity

Across Africa, innovation is redefining how societies solve problems, from mobile banking to local engineering breakthroughs. But while the continent continues to create solutions tailored to its realities, much of this ingenuity remains unrecognized because global indicators were never designed with Africa’s contexts in mind.

The challenge is not that Africa lacks innovation, but that the frameworks used to measure it are mismatched. International indexes prioritize conventional benchmarks like patents, laboratory research, and high-tech startups, yet these account for only part of the continent’s creative landscape. In reality, some of the most transformative advances emerge in spaces where necessity drives invention — informal markets, community workshops, or rural health centers.