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DOING business has become easier in some parts of Africa, finds Doing Business 2008- the fifth in an annual series issued by the World Bank and IFC. In 2006/07, 24 African countries implemented 49 reforms. In the regional rankings on the pace of reform, however Africa fell from third place to fifth, overtaken by South Asia and by the Middle East and North Africa.
Ghana and Kenya both rank among the top 10 reformers worldwide this year, and made the most significant advance in the aggregate ease of doing business rankings amongst 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 businessfriendly.
The top 10 reformers globally-including the two in Africa-are, in order, Egypt, Croatia, Ghana, FYR Macedonia, Georgia, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, China, and Bulgaria.
Another 11 countries, including three in Africa, had three or more reforms: Armenia, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, the Czech Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Mauritius, Mozambique, Portugal, Tunisia, and Uzbekistan.
Reformers made it simpler to start a business, strengthened property rights, enhanced investor protections, increased access to credit, eased tax burdens, and expedited trade while reducing costs.
Worldwide, 200 reforms-in 98 economies-were introduced between April 2006 and June 2007.
The report finds that higher rankings on the ease of doing business are associated with higher percentages of women among entrepreneurs and employees. "The benefits of regulatory reform are especially large for women," said Sylvia Solf, an author of the report. "Women often face regulations that may be designed to protect them but that instead force them into the informal sector. There women have little job security and few social benefits," she added.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, where women need their husbands' consent to start a business, they run only 18 percent of small businesses. In neighboring Rwanda, which has no such regulations, women run more than 41 percent of small businesses.
In a related development Transparency International released Wednesday 26 September released it's annual Corruption Perceptions Index.
The index score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts and ranges between zero, which is highly corrupt, and 10, which is very clean.
In the top 10 of the least corrupt countries are:
Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand, with a 9.4 rating, at No. 1;
Singapore and Sweden, 9.3, No. 4;
Iceland, 9.2, No. 6;
Netherlands and Switzerland, 9.0, No. 7;
Canada and Norway, 8.7, No. 9.
Others ranked accordingly are:
No. 11. Australia 8.6;
No. 12. Luxembourg and Britain, 8.4;
No. 14. Hong Kong, 8.3;
No. 15. Austria 8.1;
No. 16. Germany 7.8;
No. 17. Ireland and Japan, 7.5;
No. 19. France 7.3;
No. 20. USA, 7.2;
No. 21. Belgium 7.1;
No. 22. Chile 7.0;
No. 23. Barbados 6.9;
No. 24. Saint Lucia, 6.8;
No. 25. Spain and Uruguay,6.7;
No. 27. Slovenia 6.6;
No. 28. Estonia and Portugal,6.5;
No. 30. Israel 6.1;
No. 31. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6.1;
No. 32. Qatar, 6.0;
No. 33. Malta, 5.8;
No. 34. Macao, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates, 5.7;
No. 37. Dominica 5.6;
No. 38. Botswana 5.4;
No. 39. Cyprus and Hungary 5.3;
No. 41. Czech Republic and Italy, 5.2;
No. 43. Malaysia, South Africa, South Korea, 5.1;
No. 46. Bahrain 5.0, Bhutan, Costa Rica 5.0;
No. 49. Cape Verde, Slovakia 4.9;
No. 51. Latvia, Lithuania, 4.8;
No. 53. Jordan, Mauritius, Oman 4.7;
No. 56. Greece 4.6;
No. 57. Namibia, Samoa, Seychelles 4.5;
No. 60. Kuwait, 4.3;
No. 61. Cuba, Poland 4.2, Tunisia 4.2;
No. 64. Bulgaria, Croatia, Turkey 4.1;
No. 67. El Salvador 4.0;
No. 68. Colombia 3.8;
No. 69. Ghana and Romania 3.7;
No. 71. Senegal 3.6;
No. 72. Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Morocco, Peru 3.5, Suriname;
No. 79. Georgia, Grenada, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Trinidad and Tobago 3.4;
No. 84. Bosnia and Hercegovina, Gabon, Jamaica, Kiribati, Lesotho, Macedonia, Maldives, Montenegro, Swaziland, 3.3;
No. 84. Thailand 3.3;
No. 94. Madagascar, Panama, Sri Lanka, Tanzania;
No. 98. Vanuatu 3.1;
No. 99. Algeria, Armenia, Belize, Dominican Republic, Lebanon, Mongolia 3.0;
No. 105. Albania, Argentina, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Egypt 2.9;
No. 111. Eritrea, Guatemala, Moldova, Mozambique, Rwanda, Solomon Islands, Uganda, 2.8;
No. 118. Benin, Malawi, Mali, Sao Tome and Principe, Ukraine 2.7;
No. 123. Comoros, Guyana, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Niger, East Timor, Vietnam, Zambia 2.6;
No. 131. Burundi, Honduras, Iran, Libya, Nepal, Philippines, Yemen 2.5;
No. 138. Cameroon, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Paraguay, Syria 2.4;
No. 143. Gambia, Indonesia, Russia, Togo 2.3;
No. 147. Angola, Guinea- Bissau, Nigeria 2.2;
No. 150. Azerbaijan, Belarus, Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan, Zimbabwe 2.1;
No. 162. Bangladesh, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Papua New Guinea, Turkmenistan, Venezuela 2.0;
No. 168. Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Laos 1.9;
No. 172. Afghanistan, Chad, Sudan 1.8;
No. 175. Tonga, Uzbekistan 1.7;
No. 177. Haiti 1.6;
No. 178. Iraq, 1.5;
No. 179. Myanmar, Somalia 1.4
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