## 1 Introduction  
In the context of global economic integration and the rapid development of digital technology, national competitiveness has become a core indicator for measuring a country's economic health, development potential, and global status. It not only affects a country's economic growth rate and quality but also directly affects its position in the international division of labor, its ability to attract foreign direct investment, and the improvement in people's living standards [1]. At present, competition among countries is becoming increasingly fierce. This competition is no longer limited to traditional factor endowments or industrial scale but is more reflected in innovation capabilities, institutional efficiency, infrastructure level, human capital quality, and data-driven decision-making capabilities. The African continent, as an important emerging force in global economic growth, is undergoing a profound transformation. Among them, the French-speaking African countries constitute an important group in the African development landscape due to their unique historical, cultural, and linguistic ties and close links in regional economic organizations such as the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC). Most of these countries face similar challenges, such as weak infrastructure, a single industrial structure, a need to improve governance, an inadequate demographic dividend, and high sensitivity to external shocks [2; 3]. However, they also have great development potential, such as rich natural resources, a young and growing population, an increasingly active regional market, and a strong demand for digital transformation [4]. The foundational work of the theory of national competitiveness can be traced back to [PERSON]'s theory of \"national competitive advantage\", which emphasizes the role of industrial clusters, factor conditions, demand conditions, related and supporting industries, and corporate strategy, structure, and competition in enhancing national competitiveness [5]. On this basis, a variety of frameworks and indices for assessing national competitiveness have emerged around the world. The Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) of the World Economic Forum (WEF) is one of the most influential. The GCI measures an economy's long-term productivity growth potential by assessing 12 pillars [6]. Another important assessment is the World Competitiveness Yearbook of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), which assesses the competitiveness of countries in four aspects: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure based on statistical data and executive questionnaires [7]. These traditional frameworks provide valuable benchmark comparisons and policy recommendations for countries, but the data sources tend to focus on official statistics and expert surveys, which may have time lags, subjectivity, and data missing problems; at the same time, the indicator system is relatively fixed, making it difficult to dynamically capture the impact of emerging economic models and technological changes; in addition, the linear weighted summation method may not fully reflect the complex nonlinear relationships and interactions between dimensions. In recent years, some studies have begun to examine the impact of the digital economy and global value chains on national competitiveness. For example, [PERSON] explored how digital infrastructure and digital skills shape national competitiveness and believed that the digital divide may exacerbate the competitiveness gap between developing and developed countries [8]. [PERSON], [PERSON], et al. used network analysis methods to study the impact of national embeddedness in the global value chain on competitiveness, pointing out that under the complex and changing global trade pattern, the position and resilience of the country in the value chain have become increasingly important [9].