Out of 183 nations surveyed by the International Financial Cooperation (IFC), Nigeria has been ranked 133rd in the annual ‘Doing Business report’ which measures business regulations amongst global economies.
Africa’s second largest economy failed to record any improvement in the annual report released by IFC-an arm of the World Bank on Wednesday as it maintained the 133rd position it was ranked last year.
The nation’s poor power generation and transmission was affirmed in the report which ranked Nigeria 176 in getting electricity-the supply of electricity to business ventures.
In other parameters for the ranking, Nigeria was ranked 180 for registering of companies and 84 for obtaining a construction permit.
The dearth of entrepreneurs in the nation’s economy was also affirmed as the nation ranked 116, falling 8 steps from its ranking of 108 in 2011.
Nigeria was also ranked 78 for getting credit ; 65 for protection of investors; 138 for paying taxes, 149 for trading across borders; 97 for enforcing contracts 97; and 99 for resolving insolvency.
Other key findings of the 2012 report stated that Morocco improved its business regulation the most compared to other global economies while Chad is the worst country for doing business on earth.
According to the report, “Morocco climbed 21 places to 94, to achieve the feat by simplifying the construction permitting process, easing the administrative burden of tax compliance, and providing greater protections to minority shareholders. Since 2005, Morocco has implemented 15 business regulatory reforms.”
Besides Morocco, 11 other economies are recognized as having the most improved ease of doing business across several areas of regulation as measured by the report. They are Moldova,Macedonia, Sao Toame and Principe and Lavia. Others are the Solomon Islands, South Korea, Armenia and Colombia.
In the regional ranking, Mauritius is the best country for doing business in Africa.
South Africa, Rwanda, Botswana and Ghana are second to fifth while Nigeria is 15th.
African countries such as Cape Verde, Sierra Leone and Burundi also recorded great improvements in the capacity of doing business.
The report noted that in Sub-Saharan Africa, a record 36 out of 46 economies improved business regulations this year as Singapore led on the overall ease of doing business, followed by Hong Kong, China; New Zealand; the United States; and Denmark.
South Korea was a new entrant to the top 10.
