Nigeria has been ranked 108th out of 178 countries in a major report on the ease of doing business.
Nigeria also comes behind several other African countries, including Africa’s best – Mauritius, Ethiopia, Namibia, South Africa, Tunisia and Kenya – in business-friendly policies.

Mauritius was ranked 27th; South Africa 35th; Namibia 43rd; Kenya 72nd; Ghana 87th; Tunisia 88th and Ethiopia 102nd.

Singapore occupied the topmost position as the friendliest environment to do business in the world.
Other top ranked economies on the global scale included New Zealand, the United States, Hong Kong, Denmark, United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Australia, Iceland, Norway, Japan, Finland and Sweden.

The report, released simultaneously across the globe on Wednesday, ranked 178 economies on the ease of doing business based on 10 indicators of business regulation. Criteria used in determining the report included the ease of registering a business; the cost of operation as a percentage of per capita income; minimum capital required as a percentage of per capita income; and cost of registering property as a percentage of the cost of the property.

According to the report, several countries of the world improved the ease of doing business by undertaking thorough reforms. Reforms, however, could not get Nigeria among the top performers.
The report noted, “Ghana and Kenya both rank among the 10 reformers worldwide this year and made the most significant advance in the aggregate ease of doing business rankings among countries in Africa.

“Mauritius with six reforms, tops the rankings in Africa on the ease of doing business and places 27th in the global rankings. Burkina Faso and Mozambique continue to become more business-friendly.”
On the country, the report said, “Nigeria computerised its company registry, speeding up company name registration and searches and increasing efficiency. Entrepreneurs can now start operating a new business within 34 days. And the planning authority now issues construction permits in 30 days.”
Answering questions from journalists through a web cast, Senior Communications Officer, World Bank, Mr. Timothy Carrington, said Nigeria ’s reforms could not improve its ranking by much because the reforms affected only one area – registering a business.

On the contention that Lagos, which was used in the survey, was no representative enough of Nigeria, Carrington disclosed that another sub-national survey was ongoing. States included in this survey are Cross River, Kaduna, Lagos, Abia and Anambra. Others are Bauchi, Enugu, the Federal Capital Territory, Ogun and Sokoto.

On accusations that the report might not have taken local considerations into account, Carrington said local collaborators numbering more than 5,000 people from different parts of the world, were used.

He added that for Nigeria to improve on its ranking, there was the need to improve on the process of clearing goods from the ports as well as tackling unofficial duties.

source: punch