By Biodun Busari
Nigeria has been ranked as the third best English-speaking African country behind South Africa and Kenya which emerge first and second respectively.
Also, Nigeria, the most populous black nation makes the number 28 on the global chart in the EF English Proficiency Index ranking, in the latest update.
The countries considered for the ranking are categorised as non-native English speaking, based on test results of 2.1 million adults in 111 countries and regions as published on the EF EPI website.
Meanwhile, the rankings are further classified into five categories as very high proficiency, high proficiency, moderate proficiency, low proficiency, and very low proficiency.
South Africa, however, is the only African nation that breaks into a very high proficiency category, with the like of the Netherlands, Singapore, Austria, Norway, Denmark, and seven others.
In the same vein, Nigeria and Kenya are two African countries that make high proficiency alongside 16 others.
Interestingly, the Netherlands makes the number one global spot while Singapore takes the second position and Austria picks the third place.
Twenty African countries appear on the log which reveals that South Africa and Kenya made 12th and 20th globally respectively.
Others on the list in Africa are Ghana (41st globally and 4th in Africa), Uganda (55th globally and 5th in Africa) amongst others.
The Education First English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) attempts to rank countries by the equity of English language skills amongst those adults who took the EF test.
In order to be included in the ranking, a country is required to have at least 400 test takers.
Here is the list of African countries by English skills:
1. South Africa (12 globally)
2. Kenya (20 globally)
3. Nigeria (28 globally)
4. Ghana (41 globally)
5. Uganda (55 globally)
6. Tunisia (56 globally)
7. Tanzania (63 globally)
8. Ethiopia (68 globally)
9. Morocco (76 globally)
10. Algeria (78 globally)
11. Egypt (85 globally)
12. Mozambique (86th globally)
13. Sudan (95 globally)
14. Cameroon (96 globally)
15. Somalia (100 globally)
16. Côte d’Ivoire (104 globally)
17. Angola (105 globally)
18. Rwanda (107 globally)
19. Libya (108 globally)
20. Democratic Republic of Congo (110 globally).
Here is the global ranking by English skills:
1. Netherlands
2. Singapore
3. Austria
4. Norway
5. Denmark
6. Belgium
7. Sweden
8. Finland
9. Portugal
10. Germany
11. Croatia
12. South Africa
13. Poland
14. Greece
15. Slovakia
16. Luxembourg
17. Romania
18. Hungary
19. Lithuania
20. Kenya
21. Bulgaria
22. Philippines
23. Czech Republic
24. Malaysia
25. Latvia
26. Estonia
27. Serbia
28. Nigeria
29. Switzerland
30. Argentina
31. Hong Kong, China
32. Italy
33. Spain
34. France
35. Ukraine
36. South Korea
37. Costa Rica
38. Cuba
39. Belarus
40. Russia
41. Ghana
42. Moldova
43. Paraguay
44. Bolivia
45. Chile
45. Georgia
47. Albania
48. Honduras
49. Uruguay
50. El Salvador
51. Peru
52. India
53. Dominican Republic
54. Lebanon
55. Uganda
56. Tunisia
57. Armenia
58. Brazil
58. Guatemala
60. Vietnam
61. Nicaragua
62. China
63. Tanzania
64. Turkey
65. Nepal
66. Bangladesh
67. Venezuela
68. Ethiopia
69. Iran
70. Pakistan
71. Sri Lanka
72. Mongolia
73. Qatar
74. Israel
75. Panama
76. Morocco
77. Colombia
78. United Arab Emirates
78. Algeria
80. Japan
81. Indonesia
82. Ecuador
83. Syria
84. Kuwait
85. Egypt
86. Mozambique
87. Afghanistan
88. Mexico
89. Uzbekistan
90. Jordan
91. Kyrgyzstan
92. Azerbaijan
93. Myanmar
94. Cambodia
95. Sudan
96. Cameroon
97. Thailand
98. Haiti
99. Kazakhstan
100. Somalia
101. Oman
102. Saudi Arabia
103. Iraq
104. Côte d’Ivoire
105. Angola
106. Tajikistan
107. Rwanda
108. Libya
109. Yemen
110. Democratic Republic of Congo
111. Laos
