Speed to market is key to success

This year’s Doing Business Report has just been released and it makes for interesting reading, particularly when it comes to identifying the world’s top countries for making it easy to open a business in a matter of hours, and less than a working week. And, when speed to market is important around innovation and getting businesses and products launched, this can be a critical deciding factor. New Zealand tops the list once again and is the only country where it’s possible to open a business in just one day. Next up are Canada and the small former Soviet republic, Georgia — where it takes just two days to open a business. Good news for Africa is that two countries make the list of 23 countries - in Rwanda and Burundi, it takes just four days to complete the paperwork and to launch a business there. That is in stark contrast to countries like South Africa, where it takes on average 45 days to open and register a business. The long time it takes is mostly down to how long it takes to register with the Department of Labour for the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and Workmen’s Compensation Fund — according to the World Bank.