Forbes Magazine has just released its global list of best
countries for business for the year ended December 31st 2018. And without much
surprise, Nigeria’s position isn’t all that pleasant
According to the list, Nigeria was ranked number 110th out
of the total of 161 countries in the survey.
Note that Nigeria is not even among the top ten African
countries on the list, having placed at number 14th behind the likes of South
Africa and even neighbouring Ghana.
Meanwhile, at number 59, South Africa is the best ranked
African country on the list and the best in Africa. It is then followed by
Morocco which ranked 62, Seychelles at number 66, Tunisia at number 82, and
Botswana number 83.
Other African countries that ranked better than Nigeria
include Rwanda (90), Kenya (93), Ghana (94), Egypt (95), Namibia (96), Senegal
(100), Zambia (103) and Cape Verde (104).
On a positive note, however, Nigeria still outperformed some
fifty-one other countries on the list most of which are on the African
continent. Some of these countries are the Central African Republic Republic of
Congo; the top two worst ranked.
Nigeria could learn from the top-ranking countries
As expected, European, Asian, North American, and South
Pacific countries dominated the list as some of the best places for business.
Out of the first twenty best countries alone, European countries took eleven
spots.
According to the survey, the United Kingdom is the best
country for business, followed by Sweden, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, and New
Zealand. Others are Canada, Denmark, Singapore, Australia and Switzerland.
The United States of America ranked in at number 17th,
despite President Trump’s much-touted “America First” policies. Yet, this is a
much more better ranking compared to Nigeria’s.
Therefore, Nigeria can learn a lot from all the countries
with impressive ranking, including South Africa.
It should, however, be mentioned that Nigeria’s current
ranking is a little better than its 115th position during the previous year.
Note that to measure the best country for doing business,
Forbes considered fifteen factors such as “property rights, innovation, taxes,
technology, corruption, freedom (personal, trade and monetary), red tape,
investor protection” among others.
