A developed country is one that boasts features such as a developed economy, a stable and functional government, a robust infrastructure, a strong educational system, ample job opportunities, comprehensive health and social services, and a high degree of personal freedom. Countries that fall slightly short of these goals are classified as developing countries.
Over the years, the United Nation’s Human Development Index (HDI) has become the most universally used tool for measuring countries’ developing status. According to the United Nations Development Programme, “the HDI was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone.”
Among the indicators tracked by the HDI are: life expectancy, adult literacy rate, access to the internet and income inequality. These indicators are always in the following order: 0.00 and 1.00. Countries that score very low on these indicators (i.e., 0-0.55) have low human development ratio. The ones that score between 0.55 and 0.70 are medium human development countries. Lastly, those with scores of between 0.70 and 0.80 are said to have high human development ratio. Meanwhile, countries with high human development ratios score between 0.80-1.0.
Below are the 10 most developed African countries, based on the latest UN’s Human Development Index report. Do note that African countries usually rank low compared to the global average. For instance, Mauritius, Africa’s most developed country, was ranked 66 out of 189 countries.
Mauritius: This island country has an HDI ranking of 0.804. .
Seychelles: This is yet another island African country with a high HDI ranking of 0..796.
Algeria: This Northern African country has an HDI of 0.748.
Tunisia: Tunisia has an HDI ranking of 0.740.
Botswana: The fifth most developed country in Africa is Botswana. It has an HDI ranking of 0.735.
Libya: Libya’s HDI stands at 0.724, according to UN’s latest HDI ranking.
South Africa: This country has an HDI ranking of 0.709, thus taking the position for the 7th most developed country in Africa.
Egypt: Egypt comes in at 8th position with an HDI ranking of 0.707.
Gabon: In the 9th position, we have Gabon with an HDI ranking of 0.703.
Morocco: Lastly, Morocco has an HDI ranking of 0.686.
The island country of Mauritius is Africa’s most developed country with an HDI of .804, which just clears the “very high human development” threshold. Mauritius boasts a life expectancy of 75 years and a literacy rate of 91.3%, and is known for its advanced economy and free heath care and schooling. Globally, Mauritius still ranks 66th out of 189 countries examined, which illustrates the gap between Africa and the other continents, but other African countries can draw inspiration from the country’s success. Seychelles (7.96) lands right behind Mauritius in 67th place. The country’s economic growth is mainly driven by tourism, and the GDP has increased nearly sevenfold since 1976. Algeria has an HDI score of .748 and is the third most developed country in Africa. Algeria currently has the highest life expectancy of all African countries of 76.3 years.
