Ghana is the third best Sub-Saharan African country to live in terms of education, health, quality of life, economic competitiveness, and political environment, a Newsweek magazine ranking has said.

According to the magazine's first-ever Best Countries special issue, Ghana ranked 86th of 100 countries worldwide; 7th best in Africa, 3rd best in Sub-Saharan African and best in West Africa.

In an article entitled "The Best Countries in the World", Ghana was sandwiched between Algeria and Kenya, scoring 89th in health, 84th in quality of life, and 87th in economic dynamism, 92nd in education and a respectable 44th in political environment. Though Ghana may not have a stellar economy, its political environment is ranked the best among low-income countries like India

At position 67, Tunisia is the leading African country followed by Morocco, Egypt, Botswana, South Africa, Algeria and Ghana, in that order.

On the brink of its 50-year anniversary of independence, Nigeria was ranked 99th. Other African countries that featured in the list include Madagascar, Senegal, Mozambique, Zambia, Cameroon (#98) and Burkina Faso (#100) in that order.

The top 10 countries are Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, Luxembourg, Norway, Canada, Netherlands, Japan, and Denmark. The USA is ranked 11th and Germany, which is Europe's largest economy is ranked 12th.

In its editorial Newsweek stated: "The list shows the best countries tend to be small, rich and safe. It also shows there are many plenty of ways to look at it."

Although no African country made it to the top ten, the continent can take solace that its countries appeared alongside the best in the world.

The top 25 from Newsweek’s ranking of the “best” 100 countries

1) Finland
2) Switzerland
3) Sweden
4) Australia
5) Luxembourg
6) Norway
7) Canada
8) Netherlands
9) Japan
10) Denmark
11) United States
12) Germany
13) New Zealand
14) United Kingdom
15) South Korea
16) France
17) Ireland
18) Austria
19) Belgium
20) Singapore
21) Spain
22) Israel
23) Italy
24) Slovenia
25) Czech Republic
Bottom three: Cameroon at #98, Nigeria at #99 and Burkina Faso at #100.