In the past few weeks we have had very many rankings that tell a very confused story about East Africa.

One ranking showed Uganda as having the best tax collection rates, but another showed it sinking deeper into corruption.

Another showed Rwanda as being the easiest place, by far, in East Africa to start a business in Africa, but another gave it the worst ranking on democracy in the region.

Kenya is the most competitive and biggest economy in the region, but it is hobbled by red tape and corruption.

The Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance puts Tanzania top as the best-governed state in our neck of the woods, but another said it has the most shambolic state institutions.

Burundi, well, quite a few things are terrible, but it is a very promising place nevertheless.
The one thing I have not seen is a ranking of which EAC state is the “most innovative.”

The closest was a World Economic Forum report some time back, which said Kenya has the second highest number of patents registered every year in Africa, after South Africa.

Anyone who has been to the digital innovation hangout called iHub in Nairobi, will probably agree that Kenya today leads the pack.

iHub holds events where a lot of those young men with wild hair, unpressed t-shirts, and dirty jeans dazzle with some remarkably clever software programmes they developed.

Then on one evening recently, there was a Pecha Chuka event where, again that same crowd showed off some crazy photography, movie making, and digital art projects. Totally delightful.

Ideally Rwanda should be the most innovative place in the EAC. No government in Africa has put as much deliberate effort in digital literacy and all sorts of e-efforts like Kigali.

But Rwanda’s great strength, is also its weakness. The government is extremely efficient, and the place is unusually orderly by East African standards. That is bad for creativity.

For a global mindset, which is very good for innovation, Ugandans have got it. But Ugandans are easily distracted, and not as hungry as Kenyans.

The state is becoming lawless and corruption has spread big time in the wrong areas — in the area of property rights, so you can’t be sure you will enjoy the fruits of your labour. That is a big disincentive.

Tanzania, is in a Rwanda-type trap. Its strength is its weakness. The nation-building benefits that deeply entrenched Kiswahili brought, also holds Tanzania back.

Kiswahili, love it as we might, is not an innovation-inspiring language. It tends to produce great poetry, not mobile phone apps.

Nairobi is a vast city, which is good for creating new things. You can’t come up with Earth-shaking sitting in the middle of a village bush.

One observer who tracks innovation tells me what finally clinched it for Kenya, was its new constitution. It dramatically secures individual property rights and protections in ways that no other East African country does.

However, there might be something else. Nairobi’s streets can sometimes be crime-riddled, and are highly hassle-charged. These create just the right amount of fear and tension that gets the adrenalin and creative juices flowing.

Charles Onyango-Obbo is Nation Media Group’s executive editor for Africa & Digital Media. E-mail: [email protected]m