Briefing | Doing Business 2012 in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Djibouti

The World Bank released its Doing Business 2012 report that ranks some 183 economies against 10 benchmarks deemed suggestive of the "Ease of Doing Business" in each country. The Official Blog of Amb. David Shinn summarized the reports concerning Ethiopia, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti as follows:

Doing Business in Ethiopia 2012

The World Bank ranks countries globally on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations.

It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 10 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency.

Click here to read the 2012 report for Ethiopia. This is a useful guide for anyone thinking of opening a business in Ethiopia.

On the ease of doing business, the World Bank ranked Ethiopia at number 111. This was well behind Rwanda (45) but just behind Kenya (109) and Egypt (110). Ethiopia ranked ahead of Uganda (123), the regional average for Sub-Saharan Africa (137) and well ahead of Eritrea (180).

Doing Business in Eritrea 2012

The 2012 World Bank assessment for doing business in Eritrea is available. The Bank evaluated 183 countries.

Eritrea’s ease of doing business rank for 2012 was near the bottom–number 180, a drop of two places as compared to 2011. For a summary of Eritrea’s rankings in the different categories that constitute the overall score, click here.

The only category where Eritrea scored well was enforcing contracts. To read the entire report, click here.

Doing Business in Sudan 2012

As part of a global study of 183 countries, the World Bank has assessed the prospects for doing business in Sudan. Its rank in 2012 was 135, the same rank that it held in 2011.

The low score is worse than the one for neighboring Ethiopia but considerably better than the scores for Eritrea and Djibouti.

For a summary of Sudan’s ranking in key categories, click here. For a detailed World Bank economic profile of Sudan, click here.

Doing Business in Djibouti 2012

The World Bank has assessed the climate for doing business in 183 countries. This post looks at Djibouti,whose overall score in 2012 was a poor 170, a drop of three points since 2011.

Djibouti scored well in "trading across borders" and fairly high in "paying taxes." It scored poorly in all other categories.

Click here to see a summary of the scores and here to access a detailed economic profile of Djibouti.

*************

* Compiled from posts on The Official Blog of Amb. David Shinn between May 21-26, 2012, and re-published in this blog with a written permission from the author.

* David Shinn, who served as US Ambassador to Ethiopia, is currently an Adjunct Professor at Elliott School Of International Affairs, George Washington University.

Check the dropdown menu at the top for related topics.

more recommended stories