All Africa
A week after the surprising statements by the Algerian foreign minister, at the Summer University of the Forum of Enterprise Leaders (FCE), the latest WB rankings “Doing Business”, issued on Tuesday, came to contradict the Algerian diplomat, wrote Wednesday Algerian paper “Le Matin d’Algérie”.
Doing Business in North Africa means Algeria, not Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco or Libya, the daily quoted Algerian foreign minister Abdelkader Messahel as saying on Oct. 25.
Algeria, which ranked 156th in 2017, is now in the 166th spot out of 190 countries, 10 spots down.
Morocco, one of the best models in the MENA region, ranked 62nd whether Messahel like it or not, said the paper, adding that Algeria also ranked behind Tunisia (88th) and Egypt (128th).
Messahel could still compare the country to Iraq (168th), Syria (174th), Libya (185th) or Yemen (186th), said the daily in irony.
“Doing Business 2018: Reforming to Create Jobs”, a World Bank Group flagship publication, is the 15th in a series of annual reports measuring the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 190 economies.
Doing Business measures regulations affecting 11 areas of the life of a business. Ten of these areas are included in this year’s ranking on the ease of doing business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.
