Dambisa Moyo from Zambia and David Ndii from Kenya are the only two economists from Africa ranked among the top 100 most influential economists in the world.
The list, compiled by Richtopia, a leading publisher of contributions from leading academics and subject-matter experts, is based exclusively on social influences and not on net worth.
According to Richtopia, there are thousands of credible economists who did not make this list because to qualify, economists must have a consistent digital presence.
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“Many incredible economists are not active online, and as much as it would have been an absolute pleasure to include them, this is a list of people who have an influence on the web, with a click of a button, even if it means at 2 am with a Tweet,” Richtopia explained.
The list gets compiled using several metrics combined to produce a final rank. Some of the leading indicators on an individual’s ranking are their social media followers, engagement, overall news coverage, monthly name searches on Google, LinkedIn followers, online presence, etc.
For example, Ndii, chairman of Zimele Asset Management Company, who ranked 22nd, is vocal on social media and is a big critic of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government in Kenya.
From the five continents that were surveyed, North America had the highest number of influential economists with 58 out of 100, followed by Europe with 30, Asia nine, Africa two, and Oceania one.
