Ghana has moved places on the World Bank’s 2019 Doing Business Index placing 114th in 2018 as against landing 120th in 2017.
Ghana had ranked 112th in 2016 and 108th in 2015 out of 190 countries showing there was more work to be done to perform better in Africa. Meanwhile African economies – Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya and Rwanda are among the top 10 most improved economies globally.
Ghana moved six places thanks to reforms in key areas such as government ensuring technical inspectors gave construction permits based on construction quality control, government making sure it’s easier to trade across borders by implementing a paperless customs clearance processing system as well as making it easier to pay taxes by allowing financial losses to be fully carried forward during any of the following five years of assessment.
The report released on Wednesday noted Sub-Saharan Africa as the region with the highest number of reforms each year since 2012.
The ‘Doing Business Report’ captured a record 107 reforms across 40 economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the region’s private sector feeling the impact.
The average time and cost to register a business has declined from 59 days and 192% of income per capita in 2006 to 23 days and 40% of income per capita with the average paid-in minimum capital fallen from 212% of income per capita to 11% of income per capita in the same period.
With progress being made to improve the business environment; investments by both domestic and foreign firms is hoped will increase spurring growth leading to more jobs and a further reduction in poverty levels.
“The World Bank Group looks forward to working with the government to build on this progress, including through the establishment of the institutional mechanisms to implement and monitor reforms, to facilitate dialogue between the private sector and the government, and to facilitate peer learning from best reformers,” a statement from the group read.
Doing Business 2019 is the 16th in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it.
It presents quantitative indicators on business regulation and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 190 economies.
The report covers regulations affecting 11 areas of the life of a business: Starting a Business; Dealing with Construction Permits; Getting Electricity; Registering Property; Getting Credit; Protecting Minority Investors; Paying Taxes and Trading across Borders.
Others are Enforcing Contracts, Resolving Insolvency and Labour Market Regulation.