Angola climbed 14 places in the Heritage Foundation’s Economic Freedom Index, now ranking 140th out of the 180 economies which participate in the study. Overall, Angola scored 54.2 points, 2 points higher than its ranking in 2020 and the third consecutive rise since scoring 48.6 points in 2018.
Main improvements include areas such as judicial efficiency, which increased 8.5 points, to 22.8, against 14.3 in 2020 and monetary freedom, which saw a rise of 7.9 points, to sit at 67.5 points, edging closer to the average score of the Sub-saharan Africa region (73.8).
According to the index, fiscal health and tax burden are areas where Angola actually stands out and ranks above the world average.
Also read: IMF hails Angola’s economic reforms amid Covid-19
Aside from Angola, Sub-saharan Africa has seen the Republic of Congo as the nation with the most improved overall score in the 2021 Index, with an 8.9 points increase, reaching an overall score of 50.7, 156th in the world.
Mauritius remains Africa’s best-ranked nation, rising 2.1 points to an overall score of 77.0, making it the 13th freest country in the world.
The Index of Economic Freedom evaluates the extent and effectiveness of government activity in 12 areas known to have a significant impact on levels of economic growth and prosperity. Policies that allow greater freedom in any of the areas measured tend to spur growth.
Growth, in turn, is an essential element in generating more opportunities for people to advance themselves economically, thereby reducing poverty and building lasting prosperity.
Some aspects of economic freedom concern a country’s interactions with the rest of the world (for example, the extent of an economy’s openness to global investment or trade). Most, however, focus on policies within a country, assessing the liberty of individuals to use their labor or finances without undue restraint and government interference.
