Kenya has climbed five positions to the 97th place in the world in the 2026 Global Innovation Index (GII) rankings published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The country ranks ninth in Sub-Saharan Africa, after Mauritius, South Africa, Botswana, Senegal and Rwanda, among other nations. WIPO analyzed almost 140 economies using indicators that included research and development, human capital, technology, business activity and innovation outputs.

The Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA) has hailed the improvement and attributed it to enhanced inter-agency collaboration, partnerships as well as efforts to enhance Kenya’s system of measuring innovation performance.

“Kenya has jumped five places in the Global Innovation Index 2026, from the 102nd position to 97th position globally. We are delighted with this achievement and the collective efforts of Kenya’s innovation ecosystem,” KeNIA said.

WIPO noted that Kenya’s improved performance is linked to a vibrant entrepreneurial and technology scene that has delivered strong showings in several areas.

The country ranked eighth in the world in terms of utility models, 30th in venture capital raised, 34th in late-stage venture capital deals and 30th in information and communications technology exports. In addition, Kenya ranked 11th in the world in terms of low-carbon energy use.

The organization noted improvements in Kenya’s performance in high-tech imports, industrial designs and mobile application creation, among other areas, to show dynamism in various fields of Kenya’s innovation ecosystem. However, the country’s overall innovation input index ranked 111th compared to 86th for the overall innovation output index. KeNIA noted that while Kenya’s current performance should be celebrated, it should not be seen as the end point but rather a step towards realizing Kenya’s ambition to be among the world’s top 50 innovation economies.

“A multi-agency Global Innovation Index Steering Committee has been constituted to enhance inter-agency collaboration and coordination in gathering, analyzing and disseminating innovation indices, as well as formulating and implementing relevant policies,” KeNIA said.

The agency identified key areas that required renewed focus and resources, including beefing up the research base, enhancing the university-industry nexus, supporting the innovator community and improving the quality of data for decision-making, in order to realize Kenya’s innovation goals.

Despite the improvement, Kenya remains in ninth position in the list of innovative countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. While Mauritius topped the list at the 50th position globally, South Africa, Botswana, Senegal and Rwanda followed at positions 63, 82, 90 and 96, respectively. Kenya came in 97th position. According to WIPO, the 2026 GII used approximately 80 indicators to assess the countries on various aspects of innovation, including research activities, high-tech trade, high-skilled employment and intellectual property.

The index seeks to evaluate the country’s innovation ecosystem as opposed to a snapshot of technologies in a particular area. Thus, Kenya’s recent five-position improvement in the rankings is a clear indication of improved performance, although the country’s target to be in the top 50 will require an improvement on both input and output indices of innovation.