Rwanda gets top billing in ‘ease of doing business’ stakes

For the first time an African country – Rwanda – has headed the list of the World Bank’s “Overall Ease of Doing Business” survey. Rwanda was the world’s top reformer, based on the number and impact of reforms implemented between June 2008 and May 2009. The country reformed in seven of the 10 business regulation areas measured in the IFCWorld Bank Doing Business 2010 report. It now takes a Rwandan entrepreneur just two procedures and three days to start a business. Imports and exports are more efficient, and transferring property takes less time thanks to a reorganised registry and statutory time limits. Investors have more protection, insolvency reorganisation has been streamlined, and a wider range of assets can be used as collateral to access credit. Mauritius, ranked 17 of the 183 economies covered by the report, is the top sub-Saharan economy for the second year in a row in terms of the overall regulatory ease of doing business. It adopted a new insolvency law, established a specialised commercial division within the court, eased property transfers, and expedited trade processes. Among the other “leading reformers” identified in the report were Angola, Cameroon, and Ethiopia; and South Africa which lowered taxes on domestic firms, and is ranked number 34.