Regulation, Report Finds Washington, D.C., October 23, 2012A new
report by IFC and the World Bank finds that of the 50 economies making
the most improvement in business regulation for domestic firms since
2005, 17 are in Sub-Saharan Africa. This years 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 years 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 businessa 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 Businessthe 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
regions 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, Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, Niger, Nigeria, and Sao
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. About the Doing Business report series Doing Business
analyzes regulations that apply to an economys 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. For example, it does not measure the
quality of fiscal management, other aspects of macroeconomic stability,
the level of skills in the labor force, or the resilience of financial
systems. Its findings have stimulated policy debates worldwide and
enabled a growing body of research on how firm-level regulation relates
to economic outcomes across economies. This years report marks the 10th
edition of the global Doing Business report series. For more information
about the Doing Business report series, please visit
www.doingbusiness.org. Join us on Facebook.
About the World Bank Group The World Bank Group is one of the worlds
largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It
comprises five closely associated institutions: the International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International
Development Association (IDA), which together form the World Bank; the
International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment
Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of
Investment Disputes (ICSID). Each institution plays a distinct role in
the mission to fight poverty and improve living standards for people in
the developing world.