Mauritius, Rwanda and Kenya are leading sub-Saharan Africa in the 2018 World Bank Doing Business report, according to the report released Tuesday in Rwandan capital Kigali.
The report examines regulations and conditions necessary to enhance business climate.
“Job creation is one of the transformational gains that countries and communities can achieve when the private sector is allowed to flourish. Fair, efficient and transparent rules, which Doing Business promotes, improve governance and tackle corruption,” said World Bank Chief Executive Officer Kristalina Georgieva.
Mauritius ranks 25th globally, followed by Rwanda at 41st and Kenya at 80th, said the report, with Sub-Saharan Africa implementing 83 reforms, a record for a second consecutive year for the region
According to the report, Rwanda has implemented the highest number of business reforms over the past 15 years, with a total of 52 reforms.
This year’s report records a welcome reform by the Democratic Republic of Congo, which eliminated the requirement for women to obtain their husband’s permission to register a business.
According to the report, Malawi, Zambia, Nigeria and Djibouti were among this year’s top 10 improvers, based on reforms undertaken.
The annual report focuses on 11 main areas that affect business such as ease of starting a business, obtaining construction permits, access to electricity, property registration, access to credit, tax payments among others.
Easing the requirements for starting a business has seen the largest number of reforms, with 626 reforms recorded in the past 15 years. As a result, the time needed to start a new small or medium business has more than halved to an average of 20 days worldwide, compared with 52 days in 2003, the report said.
