World Bank in Mozambique notes neighbouring countries’ ‘Doing Business’ advances

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World Bank in Mozambique notes neighbouring countries’ ‘Doing Business’ advances

8:08 CAT | 02 Nov 2018

The Doing Business Index analyses, assesses and compares business regulation for domestic firms in 190 economies. Picture: World Bank Group

You may read the full World Bank ‘Doing Business 2019- Training for Reform’ report HERE

The World Bank’s director for Mozambique remarked on Wednesday that some neighbouring countries had registered better progress than Mozambique in improving their ranking in the 2019 Doing Business index.

“Mozambique is not evaluated in isolation, and several neighbouring countries have shown more progress,” Mark Lundell said in a statement.

You may read the full World Bank Mozambique Economy Profile at the ‘Doing Business 2019 – Training for Reform’ report HERE

Mozambique ranks 137th out of 190 countries and has improved from last year – both in relative terms (up from 135th place), and in absolute terms, with an improvement of about 1.53% in the metric that compares economies against global best practices.

In relation to Mozambique’s neighbours, Lundell pointed out that “this year, half of the list of the ten economies in the world that most reformed their business environment is made up of African countries, and sub-Saharan Africa is once again the most reforming region in the world”.

The World Bank Mozambique representative offered a detailed list of recommendations.

“Given the complexity and cross-cutting nature of many reforms, as well as the common resistance to change, it is important that there be political leadership at the highest level; an appropriate intergovernmental coordination structure; and a major focus on the training of civil servants,” he said.

In the same communiqué, he also stated that “effective communication with the private sector is essential to ensuring the sustainability and good implementation of business regulation”.

The Doing Business index has registered three reforms that have contributed to improving the business environment in Mozambique over the last year: in the areas of electricity generation, cross-border trade and tax payments, the statement notes.

The introduction of a Mozambique Electricity monitoring and management system had brought the country from 150th place to 100th place in the electricity generation indicator, but the country lost ground in the ‘Starting a business’ indicator through the increase in the cost of publishing company by-laws in the Government’s Gazette.

Source: Lusa