Nigeria ranked 131 out of 185 in global doing business report

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and World Bank yesterday released the 10th edition of Doing Business report series, ranking Nigeria 131 out of 185 countries surveyed. Doing Business analyzes regulations that apply to an economy’s businesses during their life cycle, including start-up and operations, trading across borders, paying taxes, and protecting investors.

The aggregate ease of doing business rankings are based on 10 indicators and cover 185 economies. Doing Business does not measure all aspects of the business environment that matter to firms and investors. According to the report, Nigeria introduced a new compulsory labour contribution paid by the employer. It listed areas of business regulation reform recorded in Nigeria as paying taxes. Some African countries rated ahead of Nigeria include Mauritius, 19, South Africa, 39, Rwanda, 52; Botswana, 59; Ghana, 64; Namibia, 87 and Zambia, 94. African countries also occupied the bottom of the ranking.

They are The Central African Republic 185, Chad 184 and The Republic of Congo 183. However, the report acknowledged that African economies made consistent progress in improving business regulation in the reviewing year. It reveals that of the 50 economies making the most improvement in business regulation for domestic firms since 2005, 17 are in Sub-Saharan Africa. “This year’s report marks the 10th edition of the global Doing Business report series and over the life of the report, Africa has consistently recorded a high number of reforms. Rwanda particularly stands out as having consistently improved since 2005.

A case study in this year’s report features Rwanda, which since 2005 has implemented 26 regulatory reforms as recorded by Doing Business. “The report, Doing Business 2013: Smarter Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises, finds that from June 2011 to June 2012, 28 of 46 governments in Sub-Saharan Africa implemented at least one regulatory reform making it easier to do business—a total of 44 reforms. Burundi, with four reforms, ranks among the 10 economies worldwide that improved the most in the past year across three or more areas measured by Doing Business—the only low-income economy on the list.

Yet despite those achievements, much more can be done to enable African economies to build a strong and competitive private sector. The region’s average ranking on the ease of doing business is 140 out of 185. Mauritius and South Africa are the only African economies among the top 40 in the global ranking.£ “Doing Business is about smart business regulations, not necessarily fewer regulations,” said Augusto Lopez-Claros, Director, Global Indicators and Analysis, World Bank Group. “We are very encouraged that  so many economies in Africa are among the 50 that have made the most improvement since 2005 as  captured by the Doing Business indicators.”

African economies that have improved the most since then include Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Mali, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Angola, Mauritius, Madagascar, Mozambique, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Niger, Nigeria, and São Tomé and Príncipe. Globally, Singapore tops the global ranking on the ease of doing business for the seventh consecutive year. Joining it on the list of the 10 economies with the most business-friendly regulation are Hong Kong SAR, China; New Zealand; the United States; Denmark; Norway; the United Kingdom; the Republic of  Korea; Georgia; and Australia.

Summary of 2011/12 Doing Business Reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa Angola made getting electricity easier by eliminating the requirement for customers applying for an electricity connection to obtain authorizations from the two utility companies. Areas of business regulation reform: Getting electricity- Rank in Doing Business 2013: 172  Benin implemented reforms in several areas of business regulation:

it reduced the time required to obtain a construction permit by speeding up the processing of applications; made enforcing contracts easier by introducing a new code of civil, administrative, and social procedures; made starting a business easier by appointing a representative of the commercial registry at the one-stop shop and reducing some fees; and reduced the time required to trade across borders by implementing an electronic single-window system integrating customs, control agencies, port authorities, and other service providers at the Cotonou port. Areas of business regulation reform:

Dealing with construction permits, Enforcing contracts, Starting a business, Trading across borders- Rank in Doing Business 2013: 175.