Nigeria closer to global good business regulations, says World Bank

Nigeria is closer to the global good practices in business regulations than any time since 2009, the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank have said.

A statement issued by the bank on Tuesday stated that a new IFC and World Bank report found that from June 2012 to June 2013, Nigeria has had positive developments in such areas as trading across borders, where the time to export and import had been cut, thanks to continued impact this year from previously implemented reform efforts.

The report entitled, 'Doing Business 2014: Understanding regulations for Small and Medium-size Enterprises,' said Nigeria was already implementing some of the global good practices in the areas of doing business.

It said Nigeria was now allowing a general description of collateral, which made it easy for local entrepreneurs to get credit.

The report stated, 'Since 2005, Nigeria implemented 10 business regulatory reforms, making it easier for local entrepreneurs to do business.

'The biggest impact was in the area of getting credit, where Nigeria improved its credit information system through a central bank guideline defining the licensing, operational and regulatory requirements for a privately owned credit bureau.

'Thanks to this, Nigeria is among the 10 economies in the world that made the biggest improvement in getting credit since 2009.'

The Director, Global Indicators and Analysis, the World Bank Group, Augusto Lopez-Claros, said, 'The business regulatory environment requires strong and sustained actions. I look forward to Nigeria's continued commitment to make the regulatory environment easier for the local entrepreneurs in the coming years.'

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, China, New Zealand, the United States, Denmark, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, Georgia, Norway and the United Kingdom.

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 the list this year are (in order of improvement) Ukraine, Rwanda, the Russian Federation, the Philippines, Kosovo, Djibouti, Côte d'Ivoire, Burundi, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Guatemala.

According to the report, challenges persist as five of this year's top improvers - Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, the Philippines and Ukraine - are still in the bottom half of the global ranking on the ease of doing business. - Punch.