Johannesburg - The quality of South Africa's maths and
science education has been ranked last in a survey of 62 countries by the World
Economic Forum.
The report ranked South Africa 54th when it came to gross
tertiary enrolment - behind India, but ahead of Morocco, Ghana, Bangladesh,
Nigeria, Pakistan, Kenya, and Tanzania.
The country placed 28th overall, and was the top-ranked
sub-Saharan African country.
The forum's annual financial development report, which links
human capital to economic development, was released on Monday. Together with
taxes, infrastructure, and the costs of doing business, human capital
contributes to a supportive business environment.
South Africa's non-banking financial services, such as
mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings (IPO), insurance and
securitisation, were ranked 22nd, and financial stability 17th - a "slight
improvement".
"These changes were driven by greater currency
stabilisation (28th) and more robust IPO (26th) and securitisation activity
(44th)," according to the report.
South Africa's business environment (42nd) was the country's
weakest area.
Despite an efficient tax regime (16th), there was a
"very weak" human capital pool (52nd) and underdeveloped
infrastructure (51st).
However, there was a comparatively strong institutional
environment (25th), resulting from good corporate governance mechanisms (11th)
and an ability to effectively enforce contracts (19th).
In terms of financial access (36th), South Africa offered
varied results, according to the report.
"On the one hand, commercial access scores (16th) are
solid and improving, while retail access (41st) is relatively weak and
declining."