TOGO NEWS
The World Bank includes Togo in its new report on the economic climate
NEWS FUND - The World Bank is to release a new annual report on the business climate, the Business Ready Report (B-READY), in the spring of 2024. Togo, the Bank has just announced, will be one of the 54 countries assessed in the first edition of this report, which replaces Doing Business.
The new blueprint is at the heart of the World Bank Group's strategy and, like its predecessor, aims to assess the business and investment climate, ultimately benefiting private investment, employment and productivity. However, the B-READY report also aims to correct the shortcomings of Doing Business by striking a balance between the ease of doing business and the wider societal impacts.
Therefore, the first edition of the report will cover factors such as governance, infrastructure, human capital and innovation. It will also consider the impact of external factors, such as climate change and geopolitical risks, on the business climate.
“The B-READY project will draw primarily on data provided by private sector experts and involve direct surveys of active and formally registered businesses. For the teams behind this new report, the project goes beyond the 'Doing Business' initiative as it proceeds to the collection of data from a representative sample," the World Bank said.
The World Bank plans to use the report to develop a "global view of the enterprise" . To this end, the establishment of Bretton Woods will focus on 10 key indicators or themes that span the entire life cycle of a business entity. These are business creation and location, utilities, employment, financial services, international trade, taxation, dispute resolution, market competition and insolvency.
Within each theme, the authors of B-READY will focus on three distinct pillars: the regulatory framework that encompasses all the rules and regulations that businesses must comply with; utilities, which refers to government measures to facilitate regulatory compliance; and efficiency, which analyzes the methods of application of the regulatory framework and services, with particular attention to times and costs.
These pillars or challenges, according to Sandra Johnson, minister and secretary general of the Togolese presidency, extend beyond the framework of the work of the World Bank. "They have a profound influence on the country's economy, shaping particular aspects of the Togolese reality, with a substantial and dynamic dialogue with the private sector", said Johnson, who is also head of the country's Business Climate Cell, the organization behind the various reforms that improved Togo's business. environment in recent years.
Before it was suspended, the Doing Business report ranked Togo among the economies with the best business environment. Between 2018 and 2019, the country climbed 59 positions in the ranking, the best progress in such a short period.