This article presents a “competitiveness intelligence” conceptual framework developed from a literature review for adaptation by African countries to improve their competitiveness in the global economy. The role of competitive intelligence in national competitiveness has been shrouded with a lot of controversy in this era of trade liberalisation, globalisation and the fourth industrial revolution. We see Africa’s poor performance in the global competitiveness rankings. Research findings, however, show a positive nexus between competitive intelligence and competitiveness, though not much is known pertaining to Africa. The presented conceptual framework will, however, act as a catalyst for the adoption of competitive intelligence by African countries to improve their performance in the global economy. This article is of great importance to policymakers, researchers and academia. Furthermore, given the history and importance of competitive intelligence in economic development, the conceptual framework has the potential to inspire many African countries through subsequent adaptions.

中文翻译：

---

竞争情报将改变非洲在全球经济中的竞争力

本文提出了一个“竞争情报”的概念框架，该框架是根据文献综述发展而来的，以供非洲国家适应，以提高其在全球经济中的竞争力。在这个贸易自由化，全球化和第四次工业革命时代，竞争情报在国家竞争力中的作用被许多争议所笼罩。在全球竞争力排名中，我们看到非洲表现不佳。然而，研究结果表明，竞争情报与竞争力之间存在积极联系，尽管与非洲有关的知之甚少。但是，提出的概念框架将促进非洲国家采用竞争情报，以改善其在全球经济中的表现。本文对政策制定者，研究人员和学术界都非常重要。此外，鉴于竞争情报在经济发展中的历史和重要性，这一概念框架有潜力通过随后的适应来激励许多非洲国家。