The World Bank ease of doing business has ranked Nigeria 146th in the 2019 report released in Washington DC. The new ranking is a step back from ranking for 2018 which placed Nigeria at 145th position out of 190 countries, with the nation moving up by 24 points from the 169th position on the 2017 ranking.  

The World Bank Ease of Doing Business report 2019 said “Nigeria made starting a business easier by introducing an online platform to pay stamp duties, leading to a reduction in the time to start a business from 19 to 11 days. Nigeria carried out four reforms which included making Starting a Business easier in Kano and Lagos, the two cities covered by Doing Business. Getting Electricity and Trading Across Borders also saw reforms in the two cities. In addition, Lagos made Enforcing Contracts easier by issuing new rules of civil procedure for small claims courts, while Kano, in a negative move, made property registration less transparent by no longer publishing online the fee schedule and list of documents necessary to transfer a property”.

According to the report “Mauritius joins the group of top 20 economies this year. It is the highest ranked Sub-Saharan African economy. The second highest ranking economies in the region are Rwanda (29) and Kenya (61). South Sudan (185), Eritrea (189), and Somalia (190) are the lowest ranked economies in the region. Other large economies in the region and their rankings are Democratic Republic of Congo (184), Ethiopia (159), Nigeria (146), Tanzania (144), Sudan (162), and Uganda (127). The region’s economies perform best in the area of Starting a Business (122). Rwanda ranks among the best globally in the Doing Business areas of Registering Property (with a rank of 2) and Getting Credit (3). In registering property, Rwanda has an efficient land registry where it takes 7 days to transfer property and costs only 0.1% of the property value, the same as in New Zealand. The region underperforms in the areas of Getting Electricity (145), Trading Across Borders (139) and Registering Property (131). It takes on average 112 days for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection to the grid in Sub-Saharan Africa, compared to a global average of 86 days.

“What are the reform trends? This year’s report marks the sixth year in a row that Sub-Saharan Africa leads with the highest number of business regulatory reforms captured by Doing Business. One-third of all business regulatory reforms recorded by Doing Business 2019 were in the economies of Sub-Saharan Africa. With a total of 107 reforms, Sub-Saharan Africa has a record number for a third consecutive year. In addition, this year also saw the highest number of economies carrying out reforms, with 40 of the region’s 48 economies implementing at least one reform, compared to the previous high of 37 economies two years ago. The largest number of reforms implemented in the region was in the areas of Enforcing Contracts (27), followed by Starting a Business (17), and Registering Property (with 13 reforms) 17-member states of the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa, known by its French acronym OHADA adopted a Uniform Act on Mediation in 2017 (filling a legislative void that existed in most OHADA member states) which introduced mediation as an amicable mode of dispute settlement. Four Sub-Saharan African economies – Togo, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, and Rwanda made the list of global top 10 improvers this year. 

“Over the past 12 months, collectively these economies implemented a total of 23 reforms. Rwanda led the region in terms of the number of reforms implemented – seven in the past year, while Gabon, Guinea and Sudan were also among the notable reformers, with five reforms each. Sub-Saharan African economies recorded eight reforms in the area of getting electricity, the highest number of any region worldwide. Examples of reforms include: Burundi increased the transparency of dealing with construction permits by publishing regulations related to construction online free of charge, improving on the building quality control index. Niger made the process for getting an electricity connection faster by increasing the stock of material the utility carries and by allowing the internal wiring certificate of conformity to be obtained at the same time as the external connection works, reducing the time to obtain electricity connection from 97 to 68 days”. 

According to the World Bank “economies in Sub Saharan Africa set a new record for a third consecutive year, carrying out 107 reforms in the past year to improve the ease of doing business for domestic small and medium enterprises. The latest reforms were a significant increase over the 83 reforms that were implemented in the region the previous year. In addition, this year also saw the highest number of economies carrying out reforms, with 40 of the region’s 48 economies implementing at least one reform, compared to the previous high of 37 economies two years ago. Four of the region’s economies have earned coveted spots in this year’s global top improvers, Togo, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, and Rwanda. And, Mauritius regained a spot in the world’s top ranked economies, in 20th place.

“Five reforms were carried out in Mauritius during the past year, including the elimination of a sole gender-based barrier. In the area of Starting a Business, Mauritius equalised the business registration process for men and women and further consolidating the registration process for all applicants. Minority investor protections were strengthened by clarifying ownership and control structures and introducing greater corporate transparency. Reforms were also carried out in the areas of Registering Property, Trading Across Borders and Paying Taxes. 

“Rwanda carried out the most reforms in the region in past year, with seven, and moved up to 29th rank globally. The latest improvements in Rwanda, which has carried out the most reforms since the inception of Doing Business 16 years ago, included making starting a business less costly by replacing electronic billing machines with free software for value added tax invoices. In Registering Property, an area in which Rwanda is second only to New Zealand in the world, new land dispute resolution mechanisms made property registration easier. 

“A new insolvency law strengthened access to credit, another area in which Rwanda excels, and made it easier to resolve insolvencies by making insolvency proceedings more accessible for creditors and granting them greater participation in the proceedings. Other reforms in Rwanda were in the areas of Trading Across Borders and Getting Electricity. Kenya implemented five reforms, advancing to 61st rank. One reform included the introduction of a new law which helped further strengthen access to credit. This latest reform catapulted Kenya to 8th rank in the world in the area of Getting Credit. Kenya also made it easier for businesses to pay taxes by consolidating permits and utilising the country’s iTax platform, while an online system helped make property registration easier. Other improvements strengthened minority investor protections and made it easier to resolve insolvencies. Notable reforms in Côte d’Ivoire and Togo included the introduction of online systems for filing corporate income tax and value added tax returns, making it easier for businesses to pay their taxes. In Côte d’Ivoire, which carried out five reforms, access to credit and construction quality controls were also strengthened and business registration and enforcing contracts were made easier. In Togo, which carried out six reforms, business registration was made easier with a reduction of minimum capital requirement and enforcing contracts was made easier with the adoption of a new law on mediation, among other reforms”.

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