NAIROBI: Kenya improved significantly year-on-year in the ease of doing business while South Africa continued to decline, according to Bloomberg Data published on February 18. Kenya’s doing business rankings improved to position 108 from 136 in 2015, while South Africa dropped from position 43 in 2015 to 78 in the ease of doing business for 2016 according.
The report is based on World Bank collected in 2015. Other countries in sub-Saharan Africa with notable improvements are Uganda, Senegal and Benin, with the region noted to have the largest share of economies with at least one regulatory reform implemented out of 231 regulations of doing business.
In Kenya, ease of getting credit improved in ranking from 118 to 28, attributed to new laws that expanded the coverage for borrowers, and improved protection for both borrowers and lenders in case of bankruptcy.
Kenya’s score was boosted by improved access to electricity while in South Africa, construction permits were a particular issue, with the total number of procedures required to build a warehouse placed at more than 30 per cent above the sub-Saharan Africa average.
Last week, Bloomberg ranked South Africa among the world’s most miserable economies at third position in its misery rankings, after Venezuela and Argentina at 159.7 and 39.9 projected indexes respectively. It is the only country from sub-Saharan Africa to be listed in the study published last week, with a projected misery index of 32.0 for 2016.
The report says that although 74 per cent of the SSA countries implemented one or more reforms in the latest reviewed period, the region has the worst average ranking globally, with the main challenges in sub-Saharan Africa being lack of electricity, poor cross-border trade and taxation.
