Djibouti has jumped 55 places in the World Bank’s 2019 Doing Business index and now ranks among one of the 100 easiest countries in the world to do business.
The East African state moved from 154th to 99th in the list after being praised by the World Bank for implementing key reforms across six major areas which have considerably improved its business environment.
The primary drivers behind its growth, according to the World Bank, is the recently launched Djibouti International Free Trade Zone (DIFTZ), the largest free trade zone in Africa, and a USD$15 billion infrastructure investment programme.
.@WorldBank Doing Business 2019 report shows that #Djibouti has jumped 55 places for ease of doing business and is listed as one of the top ten most improved economies for the second year in a row. Read more here: https://t.co/5SeMlXDgce pic.twitter.com/YWk07E49gB
— DPFZA (@dpfza) October 31, 2018
Furthermore, it has also benefited from its location on two of the world’s three busiest maritime trade routes, as well as the changes it made to its Code of Commerce and legal framework.
This has led to it being the only country from the Middle East or North Africa to appear on the World’s Bank list for most improved economies, where it was second behind Afghanistan.
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The World Bank also praised Djibouti in July 2018 after it moved 44 places up the Logistics Performance Index (LPI), despite it being locked in a legal dispute with DP World over the Doraleh Container Terminal (DCT).
Credit: World Bank
In its report, the World Bank praised Djibouti for its economic reforms: “Djibouti introduced a total of 11 business regulatory reforms in the past two editions of Doing Business,” it said.
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“Djibouti, the only economy from the Middle East and North Africa region in the list of 10 top improvers this year, has targeted its reform agenda toward strengthening its legal framework.
“For example, Djibouti implemented strict deadlines for registering the property sale agreement with the Tax Authority and digitizing its land registry.
“Enforcing contracts is easier following the creation of a dedicated division within the court of the first instance to resolve commercial cases.
“With regards to resolving insolvency, Djibouti established equal treatment of creditors in reorganization proceedings and increased creditors’ participation”.
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