Kenya Ranks 3rd in Africa for English Proficiency in New Global Index

Kenya has ranked among the top English-speaking nations in Africa, placing third on the continent and 19th globally in the latest EF English Proficiency Index.

The ranking puts Kenya just behind South Africa and Zimbabwe, which tied for first place in Africa with very high proficiency scores.

The global index assessed English skills across 123 countries and regions, using data from more than 2.2 million adults who took the EF Standard English Test in 2024.

This year’s report marked a major shift, as it included speaking and writing assessments for the first time, alongside reading and listening, offering a fuller picture of how people actually use the language.

South Africa and Zimbabwe each scored 602 points, placing them in the very high proficiency band, while Kenya followed closely with a score of 593.

The strong performance reflects Kenya’s long-standing use of English as an official language, particularly in education, government, the media and business.

Within Africa, Kenya was followed by Zambia, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda and Ethiopia, all of which recorded moderate to high levels of English proficiency. At the lower end of the rankings were the Ivory Coast, Libya, Togo, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Benin and Mali, which posted very low scores.

The report notes that speaking remains the weakest English skill in most countries worldwide. Only Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe reached the high proficiency band for speaking, and no country achieved a very high score in this category.

EF attributes this to the fact that speaking is harder to teach and assess, and is often left out of national examinations.

Globally, European countries continued to dominate the top rankings, led by the Netherlands, Croatia, Austria and Germany. In contrast, countries such as Azerbaijan, Turkey and Italy ranked lower, showing that English proficiency varies widely even within the same region.

According to the index, English proficiency is strongest in sectors where the language is used daily, including information technology, professional services, media, sports and entertainment.

EF says strong English skills remain a key advantage for countries seeking to compete in global trade, education and the digital economy.