Technology · Africa ranking
R&D Spending (% of GDP) by African country
Egypt has the highest research and development spending as a share of GDP of any African country, at 1% — 1.3× Kenya's 0.8%.
Gross domestic expenditure on research and development as a share of GDP. 37 of 54 countries, ranked · World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2024.
Latest available year varies by country (2005–2024); each row shows its year, and values more than 5 years behind the most recent are marked ⚠.
Egypt
Kenya
RwandaBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | R&D Spending (% of GDP) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egypt | 1% | |
| 2 | Kenya | 0.8% | |
| 3 | Rwanda | 0.8% | |
| 4 | Tunisia | 0.7% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 5 | Morocco | 0.7% ⚠ ’10 | |
| 6 | Namibia | 0.6% | |
| 7 | South Africa | 0.6% | |
| 8 | Gabon | 0.6% ⚠ ’09 | |
| 9 | Senegal | 0.6% ⚠ ’15 | |
| 10 | Botswana | 0.6% ⚠ ’13 | |
| 11 | Tanzania | 0.5% ⚠ ’13 | |
| 12 | Algeria | 0.4% | |
| 13 | Uganda | 0.4% | |
| 14 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 0.4% ⚠ ’15 | |
| 15 | Republic of the Congo | 0.4% | |
| 16 | Ghana | 0.4% ⚠ ’10 | |
| 17 | Mozambique | 0.3% ⚠ ’15 | |
| 18 | Nigeria | 0.3% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 19 | Zambia | 0.3% ⚠ ’08 | |
| 20 | Eswatini | 0.3% ⚠ ’15 | |
| 21 | Ethiopia | 0.3% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 22 | Mauritius | 0.3% | |
| 23 | Chad | 0.2% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 24 | Sudan | 0.2% ⚠ ’05 | |
| 25 | Togo | 0.2% | |
| 26 | Burundi | 0.2% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 27 | Seychelles | 0.2% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 28 | Malawi | 0.2% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 29 | Mali | 0.1% | |
| 30 | Burkina Faso | 0.1% | |
| 31 | Lesotho | 0.1% | |
| 32 | Cote d'Ivoire | 0.1% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 33 | Gambia | 0.1% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 34 | Cabo Verde | 0.1% ⚠ ’11 | |
| 35 | Angola | 0% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 36 | Madagascar | 0% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 37 | Mauritania | 0% ⚠ ’18 |
Tunisia
Morocco
Namibia
South Africa
Gabon
Senegal
Botswana
Tanzania
Algeria
Uganda
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo
Ghana
Mozambique
Nigeria
Zambia
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Mauritius
Chad
Sudan
Togo
Burundi
Seychelles
Malawi
Mali
Burkina Faso
Lesotho
Cote d'Ivoire
Gambia
Cabo Verde
Angola
Madagascar
MauritaniaGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest R&D Spending (% of GDP) figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=rd_expenditure_pct_gdp&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2024. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.
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Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest research and development spending as a share of GDP?
Egypt has the highest research and development spending as a share of GDP in Africa at 1% (2024), followed by Kenya and Rwanda.
Which African country has the lowest research and development spending as a share of GDP?
Mauritania has the lowest research and development spending as a share of GDP of the 37 African countries with data, at 0% (2018).
How many African countries report R&D Spending (% of GDP) data?
37 of 54 African countries have a R&D Spending (% of GDP) figure in the Africa API, each from the latest year available for that country (which can differ between countries, here 2005–2024). Every value links to its full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=rd_expenditure_pct_gdp&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.
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