By Pascal Oparada
Nigeria, again, lagged behind on the global stage as the best place for business.
Forbes magazine’s annual ranking placed the country as the 14th best in Africa behind South Africa, Morocco, Seychelles, Tunisia, Botswana, Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana, Egypt, Namibia, Senegal, Zambia, and Cape Verde.
Forbes said, “We used the World Bank’s Doing Business report to grade countries’ taxes, investor protection, and red tape/bureaucracy.”
“Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom provided the basis for our ratings on trade freedom and monetary freedom. Ratings on technology, innovation, and infrastructure came compliments of the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Competitiveness Report.
“We used the Property Rights Alliance’s International Property Rights Index to gauge property rights, which was led by Japan. The workforce was based on the size of the labor force and its growth from data via the World Bank.
“Quality-of-life ratings came courtesy of the United Nations’ Human Development Index.”
Nigeria has been sliding in the global ranking of ease of doing business after it moved up 24 places in 2017.
On Wednesday Nigeria dropped by a spot in the latest World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranking for 2018, released by World Bank.
According to details of the report, of the 190 countries ranked by the World Bank, Nigeria ranked 146 in 2018, dropping by a spot from its 145th position in 2017.
The nation had last year moved 24 places from its 2016 spot of 169 to 145.
The report themed ‘Doing Business 2019: A Year of Record Reforms, Rising’, revealed that the World Bank tracked 314 reforms by 128 governments across the world.
The report noted that Nigeria made starting a business easier by reducing the time needed to register a company at its corporate affairs commission and introducing an online platform to pay stamp duty.
This reform, it said, applies to both Kano and Lagos. It also noted that Nigeria made getting electricity easier by requiring that the distribution companies obtain the right of way on behalf of the customers and by turning on the electricity once the meter is installed, Premium Times reports.
Analysts believe the Forbes ranking is a further dent on the economy since President Buhari came to office in 2015. According to them, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has taken a hit in recent years due to government policies and unstable political climate.
Others believe that as the country inches closer to an election, it would see economic volatility due to unpredictable political conditions.
