World Bank Group Inaugurates Business Ready Project

The World Bank Group has begun work to assess the business and investment climate in up to 180 economies under its flagship Business Ready project.
This is contained in a statement issued by the World Bank’s Online Media Briefing Centre, made available to The Tide source  yesterday in Abuja.
The project is expected to help countries accelerate development in inclusive and sustainable ways as well as improve upon and replace the World Bank Group’s earlier Doing Business project.
“It reflects a more balanced and transparent approach toward evaluating a country’s business and investment climate.
“This has been shaped by recommendations from experts from within and outside the World Bank Group, including governments: the private sector and civil society organisations.”
The statement said the first annual Business Ready report, covering 54 economies, would be published in the Spring of 2024.
“Today, the World Bank Group published two key documents: the Business Ready Manual and Guide, specifying the detailed protocols and safeguards it has put in place to ensure the integrity of the assessments.
“Also, the Business Ready Methodology Handbook, detailing the project’s indicators and scoring methodology.
“Data collection on the business environment of the initial 54 economies is being done through extensive consultations with regulatory experts and nationally representative World Bank Enterprise Surveys, collected by competitively selected survey companies”.
The statement quoted Indermit Gill, World Bank Group’s Chief Economist, as saying “the bank is bringing back a fuller and sharper measure of the investment climate of countries.
“Governments that do more to make their economies business-ready will do better in reviving private investment, creating jobs, and quickening the transition to cleaner energy”, it stated.
The statement quoted Norman Loayza, Director, World Bank’s Indicators Group, which leads the project, as saying “the Business Ready project represents a new approach to assessing the business and investment climates.
“The Business Ready approach aims to establish a better balance between the ease of conducting a business and the broader implications for society as a whole.
“It gives a more positive role for governments, advocating for better public services for businesses”.
Loayza said in addition to experts’ assessments, the project includes direct information from entrepreneurs and managers on their experience navigating the economy’s business environment.
The statement said Business Ready focused on 10 topics covering the lifecycle of a firm in the course of starting, operating, or closing or reorganising its activities.
“These include Business Entry, Business Location, Utility Services, Labour, Financial Services, International Trade, Taxation, Dispute Resolution, Market Competition, and Business Insolvency”.
It said over the next three years, the project would grow to cover about 180 economies worldwide annually.