MONROVIA,LIBERIA–A new World Bank report, Doing Business, showed Liberia trailing in removing limits in starting up a small-scale business, but Togo and Nigeria have made some tremendous strides in the Sub-Saharan region and remain among the top global performers.

The Doing Business 2020 Report targeted reforms implemented by the countries in the region to ease constraints in doing business. The regional average ease of doing business score was 51.8 on a scale of 0 to 100, below the OECD high-income average of 78.4 and the global average of 63.0.

Liberia scored 43.2 for 2020 – a 0.3 down from the 43.5   2019 score. The average 2020 regional score is 51.8.

According to the report, Liberia has implemented only three reforms in the past five years to make operation of business smooth. Burundi, the Central African Republic and Namibia have implemented only four.
President George Weah might be struggling on his inaugural promise of making Liberia open for business on his first day in office. He said, “To investors, we say Liberia is open and ready for business. Over the long term, private investment will be our key strategy to delivering transformation. We will work to relax constraints to private investment; strengthen the business, legal and regulatory environment, and protect business profits.”

However, the World Bank Doing Business Report reveals that not much has been done in alleviating the constraints as promised by the President. The report took into consideration constraints in starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, getting credits, registering properties, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and solving insolvency.