The World Bank Doing Business 2018 Report revealed that Malawi has ranked up from 133th to 110th on the ease of doing business index.
The report indicates that Malawi has done well on jumping position due to four reforms the country undertook, making it easier to do business over the course of last year dealing with construction permits, getting credit, resolving insolvency and trading across borders.
The report states that Malawi is one of the ten economies showing the most notable improvement in Doing Business 2018 joined by Djibouti, Zambia and Nigeria in the sub-Sahara region. Malawi’s score raised from 52.61 in Doing Business 2017 to 58.94 in Doing Business 2018, meaning that in the last year Malawi has improved its business regulations and is narrowing the gap with the global regulatory frontier.
World Bank country director Greg Toulmin said that improving from position 133 to position 110 is a great achievement for Malawi and hopes the country will continue to rise on ranking.
On the other hand, the World Bank stated that sub-Saharan Africa did not do so well in the areas of Getting Electricity with an average rank of 148. The average to obtain a permanent electricity connection to the grid in Sub-Saharan Africa is 115 days compared to the 92 days of the global average.
Mwamvekha, who was Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism during the doing business environment success period under review, said that the private sector should help government in improving the country’s economy, since the government is doing a lot for people to start business in the country.