Three of the SADC countries with the highest “trading across borders” scores in the 2019 Doing Business ranking are direct neighbours of South Africa – which is only ranked 10th in the region and 143rd in the world. A high score represents the lowest costs.Eswatini is ranked first in the region and 32nd globally, Lesotho second regionally and 38th globally, and Botswana (third and 55th). Doing Business records the time and cost associated with the logistical process of exporting and importing goods. It measures the time and cost (excluding tariffs) associated with three sets of procedures —documentary compliance, border compliance and domestic transport — within the overall process of exporting or importing a shipment of goods.South Africa has the second-highest border compliance costs and time to clear exports after the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) for border compliance, and eSwatini the lowest.In contrast, South Africa has the lowest documentary compliance cost for exports, with the DRC, Namibia and Malawi being the most expensive.Importers are better off, with South Africa ranked fourth in terms of the cost of border compliance, after the DRC, Tanzania and Angola. Botswana is cheapest.On documentary compliance for importers South Africa has the fourth-lowest costs, and the country is mid-way (eighth) for the time it takes to clear imports.
