by Grace Chekai
The Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Professor Mthuli Ncube said that Zimbabwe was ranked among the top 20 perfomers on Ease of Doing Business Reforms during the 2019/2020 period.
Minister Ncube said this in Cabinet yesterday.
"The Ease of Doing Business assessment ranks the country's business environment based on a set of indicators compiled by the World Bank Doing Business Project which cover 10 areas in the life cycle of a business.
"During the 2019/2020 period, Zimbabwe was ranked among the top twenty improvers in Doing Business Reforms.
"In general, there has been considerable progress in the country's World Bank ranking from number 171 out of 190 countries in 2015 to the current position of 140 out of 191 countries," said Minister Ncube.
He said to date, 8 of the 10 pieces of legislation requiring amendment had been assented to.
Prof Ncube said Phase 2 of the Ease of Doing Business Reforms, which commenced in 2019, focuses on implementing the strategies required to achieve tangible results that are experienced by stakeholders and the intended beneficiaries.
He said the above were being implemented in 16 identified areas broken down into two categories.
" The 1st category which relates to nine areas of the World Bank Ease of Doing Business indicators, and the 2nd category covering seven sector-specific areas.
"There are strategies being applied through the responsible line Ministries and their Technical Working Groups,” said the Minister.
The Minister said in all these processes, the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) plays a central role in resolving all the challenges affecting investors in the business operating environment.
The improvement in the Ease of Doing Business shows Government’s commitment in courting investors and subsequently resurrects the economy in order to attain the National Vision of being an Upper Middle income economy by 2030. It is also in line with President Emmerson Mnangagwa's ‘Zimbabwe is Open for Business’ mantra.
