WB: Tanzania has improved its credit information system

BY DICKSON NG`HILY

30th October 2013

World Bank

Tanzania has improved its credit information system through new regulations that provide for the licensing of reference bureaus and their functions, according to a new World Bank Group report.

In addition, Tanzania which this year was ranked number 145 among 189 economies in ‘Ease of Doing Business’ has made resolving insolvency easier through the new rules.

These specify the professional requirements and remuneration for insolvency practitioners, promoting reorganisation proceedings and streamlining insolvency proceedings.
Dubbed ‘Doing Business 2014: Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises’ and released yesterday, the report shows that with 66 reforms adopted in the past year, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) continues to record a big number of changes aimed at easing the regulatory burden on local entrepreneurs. Rwanda, Ivory Coast and Burundi are among the 10 economies that have tremendously improved business regulation globally, it says.

The Doing Business 2014 also says that of the 20 economies improving business regulations the most since 2009, nine are in SSA, which include Burundi, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Rwanda, Togo, Benin, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Guinea.

It also shows that of 47 economies in the region, 31 implemented at least one business regulatory reform in 2012/13.

Rwanda implemented the most in the region, with reforms in eight of the 10 areas tracked by Doing Business.

Three African economies made the biggest progress globally in an area measured by the report: Burundi in the case of registering property, Benin in the ease of trading across borders, and Ivory Coast in enforcing contracts.

“It is encouraging to see so many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa engaged in reforms aimed at reducing burdensome regulations and building up stronger legal institutions. In 2012/13, more than twice as many economies in the region reformed as in 2005,” says Augusto Lopez-Claros, Director, Global Indicators and Analysis, World Bank Group.

“Despite these achievements, more can be done to improve the quality of the rules underpinning the activities of the private sector, to ensure continued convergence toward the better practices seen elsewhere in the world,” he adds.

For the first time, Doing Business this year also measured business regulations in South Sudan, which gained independence in 2011.

Despite the challenges of creating laws and regulations from the scratch, South Sudan has already passed a company law, tax law, and insolvency law.

Singapore tops the global ranking on the ease of Doing Business. Joining it on the list of the top 10 economies with the most business-friendly regulations are Hong Kong SAR, China, New Zealand, the US, Denmark, Malaysia, South Korea, Georgia, Norway and the UK.

In addition to the global rankings, every year Doing Business reports the economies that have improved the most on the indicators since the previous year.

The 10 economies topping that list this year are (in order of improvement) Ukraine, Rwanda, Russian Federation, Philippines, Kosovo, Djibouti, Ivory Coast, Burundi, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Guatemala. Yet challenges persist: five of this year’s top improvers—Burundi, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Philippines and Ukraine—are still in the bottom half of the global ranking in easing doing business.

The joint World Bank and IFC flagship Doing Business report analyses regulations that apply to an economy’s businesses during their life cycle.

These include start-up and operations, trading across borders, paying taxes and resolving insolvency.

The aggregate ease of doing business rankings are based on 10 indicators and cover 189 economies.

The report does not measure all aspects of the business environment that matter to firms and investors.

For example, it does not measure the quality of fiscal management, other aspects of macroeconomic stability, the level of skills in the labour force, or the resilience of financial systems.

Its findings have stimulated policy debates worldwide and enabled a growing body of research on how firm-level regulation relates to economic outcomes across economies.

This year’s report marks the 11th edition of the global Doing Business report series and covers 189 economies.
 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN