The latest report from the World Bank Group ranks Mauritius among the best for doing business in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The World Bank’s flagship report, Doing Business 2018: Reforming to Create Jobs, has named Mauritius as the best ranked economy for doing business in Sub-Saharan Africa. Released at the end of October, the annual report took 190 economies worldwide, and scored each on regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it.
Mauritius ranked 25th globally, based on several areas of the life of a business.
These categories included the ease of starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, accessing credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.
For the rest of the region, Rwanda’s economy ranked 41st, globally, yards ahead of Kenya, Botswana and South Africa, which came in at 80, 81 and 82 respectively.
Malawi, Nigeria, Zambia and Djibouti were noted among top 10 most improved economies in 2016/17. The report showed these countries implemented several regulatory reforms that made it easier to do business.
In the area of ease of starting a business, Niger ranked top of the region and 24th place globally. Zimbabwe placed 180th out of 190 economies.
In terms of access to credit, Zambia ranked 2nd regionally. The country had shown improvements in credit information systems, collateral and bankruptcy laws to facilitate access to credit.
The World Bank said in the year ending June 1, 2017, 137 economies implemented a total of 283 reforms across the different areas measured by the report. This showed an increase of over 20 percent from 2016. The report also recorded more than 2,900 regulatory reforms, which indicated that it is easier to do business now, than it was in 2004.
