Facts on Doing Business in Africa
February 11 2015
A World Bank Group report, Doing Business 2015: Going Beyond Efficiency found that improved legal and regulatory reforms are making African countries more business-friendly for entrepreneurs.
Did you know…?
- Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest number of business regulatory reforms globally in 2013 and 2014.
Nearly 75 percent of the region’s economies improved their business regulatory environment for local entrepreneurs. - Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Togo are among the 10 top improvers worldwide.
- With nearly 1 billion people, Africa accounts for more than a sixth of the world’s population but generates only 4 percent of the world’s electricity. It takes on average 138.3 days to get an electricity connection in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- In Nigeria, obtaining an electricity connection takes more than 8.5 months and costs the equivalent of more than 10 times income per capita.
- Mauritius has the region’s highest ranking on the ease of doing business, at 28 among 189 economies worldwide—followed by South Africa (43) and Rwanda (46).
- To start a business in a Sub-Saharan African country, it takes on average 27.4 days compared to 9.2 days for OECD high income countries.