Yeclo - According to the World Bank's Doing Business 2020 report, 5 African countries are among the 20 most reforming economies in the world.

This shortlist will be reduced to 10 on October 24, when the Doing Business 2020 report is officially launched, according to a press release from this UN institution. WB experts recalled that several reforms focused on improving the business environment carried out this year in Djibouti justify "this historic ranking" for the second consecutive year.

These include the adoption of important legislation amending its commercial code in order to strengthen access to credit as well as the establishment of a functional secure transaction system and a unified securities register.

The UN analysts also welcomed the changes that Djibouti has made to its Commercial Code which, they noted, strengthen the protection of minority investors, facilitate the initiation of legal proceedings and improve their efficiency, thus reducing the time for resolution of insolvency cases.

In addition, the creation of a macroeconomic framework committee as part of its new good governance strategy, whose work will be used to take the necessary measures to guide the country's economic policies and to better prepare missions with the financial partners of Djibouti, including the Bretton Woods institutions, is also among the WB's arguments.

Besides Djibouti, four other African countries, Togo, Nigeria, Kenya and Zimbabwe, are on this list. Djibouti had recorded an increase of 55 ranks in the Doing Business 2019 world ranking on the business climate. The country, which ranked 99th, was then not only among the top 100 economies in the world but above all in the ten economies that have progressed the most according to the Doing Business evaluation criteria.

Six reforms endorsed in various areas were taken into account by this previous report, in particular the facilitation of the enforcement of contracts by the creation of a specialized division within the court of first instance to settle commercial disputes and the adoption of a new Civil Procedure Code that regulates voluntary conciliation and mediation procedures, as well as time standards for major court events.

“The reforms undertaken by the government of Djibouti to improve the business environment can play a catalytic role in changing the country's economic landscape. These reforms lay the necessary foundations for private sector-led growth, will enable the country to meet the challenges posed by high unemployment rates and will contribute significantly to the fight against poverty", declared at the end of the publication of this report the resident representative of the World Bank in Djibouti, Atou Seck.

Launched in 2002, the Doing Business project measures business regulation and its enforcement in global economies.