It has become more difficult to
do business with Mozambique
in 2017, according to the
World Bank benchmark Ease
of Doing Business ranking of 190
countries.
Mozambique is ranked 107th
overall – down from 106th in 2016.
A similar finding emerges from
the Heritage Foundation, whose
2017 Index of Economic Freedom
scores Mozambique 49.9%
compared to 53.2% in 2016.
Its ranking has dropped on all
the benchmarks measured by the
survey.
From a logistics perspective
the more relevant category
is “ease of trading across
borders”.
Here Mozambique stands at
106th – down from 105th in
2016.
It is, however, ahead of
South Africa, which is ranked
139th.
Regional leaders are
Botswana, which is ranked
51st and Mauritius 74th.
In contrast the Heritage
Foundation index ranks
Mozambique in the “mostly
free” grouping of Trade
Freedom at 76.7% compared
to 70.8% in 2016 (South Africa
scores 77.3%).
According to the World
Bank survey it takes less
time to export cargo through
Mozambican borders than in
South Africa – 78 hours vs 100
hours.
On imports the difference
is even greater – 14 hours for
Mozambique compared to 144 for
South Africa.
It is cheaper to import through
Mozambican borders than South
African, but border compliance for
exports costs less through South
Africa.
Mozambique made trading
across borders in 2016 easier by
implementing an electronic singlewindow
system.
Globally, Mozambique stands at
185th out of 190 economies on the
ease of enforcing contracts.
Mauritius is ranked number
one in Africa at 34th, followed by
Tanzania (59th) and South Africa
(113th).
Ranked 134th, Mozambique is
the third-best place for starting a
business in Africa, after Mauritius
(48th globally) and South Africa
(131st)
.
