The Doing Business Report is an annual publication by the World Bank showing ease of doing business indices for economies around the world. The 2019 Doing Business
Report was released on Wednesday, 31 October, 2018, and it shows how well countries including Nigeria have fared in the last year in the area of doing business. The report shows that this year, Nigeria dropped 1 step to the 146th position on the ease of doing business index as against its 145th position last year. 

The report also shows that New Zealand, Singapore and Denmark top the index table occupying the first, second and third positions respectively, indicating that these are the most suitable countries to do business. Similarly Venezuela, Eritrea and Somalia are found at the bottom of the index table indicating that these countries are  the most difficult to do business.

According to the Report, Nigeria improved in five indicators, with the greatest overall
positive movement being on ease of paying taxes. Nigeria moved from 171 to 157,
indicating that it is now easier to pay taxes in Nigeria than in at least 33
other countries/territories in the world. The improved ranking in paying taxes
may be attributable to the tax authorities’ efforts at simplifying the process
of filing tax returns, and paying taxes by leveraging technology.

While
the above positive movements are encouraging, it should be noted that Nigeria
recorded downward movements in some areas, such as dealing with construction
permits, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors
and resolving insolvency. Hence, all hands
must be on deck to ensure that the initiatives that brought about positive
movements in some of the indices are sustained, and efforts must be intensified
towards ensuring that the negative indices recorded are improved upon.

Download the full report here