Morocco and Tunisia are the best countries in Africa for remote work, according to NordLayer’s annual Global Remote Work Index (GRWI), with Denmark maintaining its position as the global leader. The index is based on four criteria: cyber safety; economic safety; digital and physical infrastructure; and social safety.
This year, NordLayer evaluated 108 countries compared to 66 last year and this year’s Top 10 reads as follows:
Denmark
The Netherlands
Germany
Spain
Sweden
Portugal
Estonia
Lithuania
Ireland
Slovakia
The index was compiled by assessing and comparing countries using four index dimensions. Under each dimension are various attributes (sub-dimensions) that, combined, help evaluate general remote-work attractiveness:
Cyber safety — infrastructure, response capacity, and legal measures.
Economic safety — tourism attractiveness, English language proficiency, cost of living, and healthcare.
Digital and physical infrastructure — Internet quality and affordability, e-infrastructure, e-government, and physical infrastructure.
Social safety — personal rights, inclusiveness, and safety.
Among the 20 African countries in this year’s index, only Morocco (48th) ranks in the global Top 50. The country was helped by its tourism attractiveness (16th) and cyber safety (19th), which includes an excellent response capacity (5th). Morocco is followed by Tunisia (53rd) with an 18th tourism attractiveness position. Not far behind in the index is Mauritius (58th), which has excellent infrastructure (9th) and tourism attractiveness (14th).
Unfortunately, most African countries are at the bottom of the index: Angola leading the way as it ranks 108th among 108 countries. Zimbabwe and Mozambique are close behind as they are respectively 106th and 107th. This poor ranking is mostly because Uganda, Cameroon, Senegal, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Angola are in the Top10 of the worst digital and physical infrastructures.
Unsurprisingly, African countries are recognised for their tourism attractiveness as they are all in the Top 30 in this category, with Mauritius leading in 14th position, followed by Morocco and South Africa (both 16th), Botswana (17th), and Tunisia and Kenya (18th).
“Even though some of the big tech companies recently brought their employees back to the office or introduced a hybrid work model, remote work is here to stay,” says Donatas Tamelis, MD of NordLayer. “It’s not just a trend – it is a fundamental shift in how we approach productivity and work-life balance. Embracing remote work empowers our teams to harness their full potential regardless of geographical boundaries.”