Record breaking year for regulatory reforms in Africa

The World Bank’s Doing Business 09 Report, released today makes encouraging reading for policy makers, businesses and investors looking for signs of an improving business climate in the Africa.

These countries should be congratulated and encouraged to renew their efforts in making their countries easier places to do business – for companies large and small.

The report tells us that Africa had a record breaking year for regulatory reforms that make it easier for companies to do business. 28 countries completed 58 business-friendly reforms and three of the world’s top 10 reformers of business regulations are in Africa this year: Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Botswana.

Senegal made it easier to start a business, register property, and trade across borders.

Burkina Faso introduced a new labor code and reforms for registering property, dealing with construction permits, and paying taxes.

Botswana cut the time to start a business, facilitated trade, and strengthened investor protections. Postconflict countries, Liberia and Sierra Leone, along with Rwanda, were among the regions’ most active reformers of business regulations.

Mauritius moved up to 24 in the global rankings on the regulatory ease of doing business and continues to provide inspiration for reform and good practices to other economies across Africa. The runner-up in these overall rankings is South Africa at 32, followed by Botswana at 38.

Accelerating regulatory reform, alongside improvements to the overall investment climate and governance standards show us that Africa is laying the foundations to ensure that economic growth can be both sustained and more widely shared.