Tunisia, Botswana and South Africa are the three African countries with the best entrepreneurship environment, according to the “Global Entrepreneurship Index 2017” published on Nov. 13 by the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute (GEDI, London).

Worldwide, Tunisia comes 42^nd in the rankings ahead of Italy, India, China and Russia.

Botswana and South Africa are respectively 52^nd and 55^th on the list which ranks 137 countries.

In Africa, the three nations are followed by Namibia (4^th) in the rankings which assess the quality and dynamics of entrepreneurship systems, thus beating Morocco, Algeria, Gabon, Egypt and Ghana.

Swaziland closes the top 10 of African nations where it is good to be an entrepreneur (See down 2017 rankings for 36 African nations surveyed).

Countries with the highest growth this year, comparing actual rankings to last year’s, are Tunisia (+20 ranks), Ghana (+13 ranks) and Gabon (+11 ranks).

In opposition, the highest drops were recorded by Libya (-25 ranks) and Nigeria (-14 ranks).

In the world, the United States hold the first position, ahead of Switzerland, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Australia, United Kingdom, Ireland and Netherlands.

The Global Entrepreneurship Index inputs various criteria including the perception of entrepreneurship by society, risk level, quality of education, start up creation skills, Internet usage, corruption level, economic freedom and depth of capital markets.

“Our composite index gives policymakers a tool for understanding the entrepreneurial strengths and weaknesses of their countries, thereby enabling them to implement policies that foster productive entrepreneurship,” the GEDI says.

African nations where environment is best for entrepreneurship in 2017:

1-Tunisia (42nd worldwide)

2-Botswana (52nd)

3-South Africa (55th)

4-Namibia (60th)

5-Morocco (70th)

6-Algeria (73rd)

7-Gabon (75th)

8-Egypt (81st)

9-Ghana (86th)

10-Swaziland (88th)

11-Zambia (96th)

12-Nigeria (99th)

13-Senegal (102nd)

14- Rwanda (103rd)

15-Lybia (104th)

16-Kenya (107th)

17-Ethiopia (109th)

18-Côte d’Ivoire (112nd)

19-Gambia (115th)

20-Cameroon (116th)

21-Tanzania (118th)

22-Mali (119th)

23-Liberia (121st)

24-Mozambique (123rd)

25-Madagascar (124th)

26-Angola (125th)

27-Uganda (126th)

28-Benin (127th)

29-Malawi (130th)

30-Guinea (131st)

31-Burkina Faso (132nd)

32-Mauritania (134th)

34-Sierra Leone (135th)

35- Burundi (136th)

36- Chad (137th)