World Bank suspends Doing Business report

Economic governance
Friday, 28 August 2020 14:48
World Bank suspends Doing Business report

(Togo First) - The World Bank Group has just announced the suspension of its highly acclaimed Doing Business (DB) report, which assesses the business climate in nearly 200 countries worldwide. 

This decision, according to the World Bank, was driven by irregularities in data collected for the annual ranking. The reports in question are those of the years 2017 and 2019, that is to say, the DB 2018, where Togo had, for its part, lost 2 places, and DB 2020, where the country had gained 40 places.

The Washington-based group said it would conduct a systematic review of the changes over the last five reports and asked its independent internal audit department to audit the collection and review process. This is to ensure the integrity of the data.

“The publication of the Doing Business report will be suspended while we conduct our assessment,” the Bank said.

It should be noted that, according to some specialists contacted by Togo First, this would also involve assessing the impact of certain changes over the past two years, including the introduction of the public procurement indicator (which is supposed to be published this year). 

As a reminder, Togo has made a total jump of 59 places over the last two editions, after embarking on a vast reform program, marked in particular by the dematerialization of procedures and the reduction of lead times and costs, to improve the country's economic attractiveness.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

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