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Nigeria Drops 1 Place to Rank 146 Out of 190 Countries in 2019 World Bank Doing Business Report

Doing Business in Nigeria	7339 VIEWS
Doing Business in Nigeria
7339 VIEWS

Thursday, November 01, 2018 7.00AM / World Bank

Nigeria dropped 1 place in the latest 2019 World Bank Ease of Doing Business Report to rank 146 out of 190 economies in the globe.

The 2019 World Bank 2019 Ease of Doing Business Report captured 314 reforms in 128 economies across the globe between June 2, 2017 and May 1, 2018.

These reforms are tracked – and inspired – by the World Bank Group’s Doing Business Index ranking 190 countries on the ease of doing business within their borders.

This year’s results clearly demonstrate government commitment in many economies, large and small, to nurture entrepreneurship and private enterprise,” said Rita Ramalho, Senior Manager of the World Bank’s Global Indicators Group, which produces the report.

In the last two or three years, “all the large emerging markets – such as China, India, Nigeria, South Africa, Indonesia, Russia – have taken on this agenda,” said Sylvia Solf, head of the World Bank Group’s Reform Advisory Unit, which advises governments on ways to improve the business environment. “The fact that they are doing this is groundbreaking.”

World Bank President Kim Jong said "Sound and efficient business regulations are critical for entrepreneurship and a thriving private sector. Without them, we have no chance to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity around the world”.

This is how Nigeria fared across the key areas for measuring the Ease of Doing Business;

1. Starting A Business – 120

2. Dealing With Construction Permits - 149

3. Getting Electricity - 171

4. Registering Property - 184

5. Getting Credit - 12

6. Protecting Minority Investors - 38

7. Paying Taxes - 157

8. Trading Across Borders - 182

9. Enforcing Contracts - 92

10. Resolving Insolvency - 149

11. Labour Market Regulation - N/A

Nigeria 2019 World Bank Rankings

Source: World Bank

Global Rankings

Proshare Nigeria Pvt. Ltd.

Source: World Bank

The report was described 2019 as a year of record reforms and rising influence.

Highlights

4 of the 10 top improvers—Afghanistan, Djibouti, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo—are countries suffering from fragility, conflict and violence
One-third of all business regulatory reforms were in the economies of Sub-Saharan Africa—a total of 107 reforms and a record for the region
2 countries from Eastern Europe and Central Asia made the top 10: FYR Macedonia in 10^th and Georgia, edging up two spots to 6^th
Brazil recorded the largest score improvement in Latin America and the Caribbean, reforming in four areas.
United Arab Emirates entered the top 20 in 11^thplace.
China, one of this year’s top 10 improvers, advanced more than 30 spots to 46th place in the global rankings.
India became South Asia’s top-ranked economy, advancing 23 spots to 77th place in the global ranking.

Main Findings

The most popular reform is making it easier to start a business. More than a quarter of economies did just that in 2017/18. It now takes an average of 20 days and costs 23% of income per capita to start a business, compared to 47 days and 76% of income per capita in 2006. Thirteen of the top 20 economies have at least one procedure that can be completed online in half a day.

Georgia –an early adopter of Doing Business and the second biggest reformer (after Rwanda) – has cut the amount of time to start a business to 2 days. To streamline business registration, the government launched the first Public Service Hall in 2011 – a one-stop-shop of government services. Today, 19 Public Service Halls process clearances for multiple agencies, with the option of online payments by credit card.

Economies that do well in Doing Business generally have a strong e-government to deliver services to citizens and firms. E-government also cuts red tape and reduces corruption, said Ramalho.

Strong leadership was key to reforms in Rwanda, Georgia, and Colombia – the first countries to be inspired by Doing Business to reform their regulations. Rwanda and Georgia are the first and second biggest reformers in the history of Doing Business, and Rwanda was again a top reformer this year.

“You need to have strong leadership in a sustained and broad way,” said Ramalho. “Doing Business reforms tend to span across government. It’s important to have leadership at the top saying we need to do this.”

In Rwanda, there was consensus in the years following the genocide and civil war that the private sector must be the key driver of economic transformation. The government set out to create an environment that would enable businesses and investments to thrive, said Louise Kanyonga, Head of the Rwanda Development Board's Strategy and Competitiveness Department.

“Rwanda has adopted a very bold and ambitious approach to reforming its business environment,” she said. “We benchmark ourselves against the best performers in the world and we think big.”

She said Doing Business inspired reforms in key areas:

Registering property: The reform with the biggest impact. Rwanda completely overhauled the land system to establish property rights and digitized the land registry.
Starting a business: Business registrations more than doubled after introducing electronic online business registration. Rwanda has reduced the amount of time needed to start a business from 43 days to a mere 4 days today.
Getting credit: Modern secured transactions laws offering strong protections to secured creditors have increased confidence among lenders and expanded access to finance
Paying taxes: Simplified tax systems and regulatory reforms increased tax compliance and resulted in higher tax revenues.

Top 10 Countries in the World Bank 2019 Doing Business Report

From the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Report, the top performing economies exemplifying ease of doing business in 2017/18 include;

1. New Zealand (Star Performer)

2. Singapore

3. Denmark

4. Hong Kong

5. South Korea

6. Georgia

7. Norway

8. United States

9. United Kingdom

10. Macedonia