20/10/2011

South Africa's comparatively strong economy has seen it rise slightly in the rankings of places for foreign businesses to register and set up operations.

The ease of doing business in South Africa saw it rise one place in the world rankings - to 35, out of 183 - according to a new report for the World Bank, entitled Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Transparent World.

The report noted some key actions that had been taken over the last year in South Africa, which all contributed to it being a better place to do business. The introduction of the new Companies Act in April - which eliminated the requirement to reserve a company name and simplified the incorporation documents - was noted as very significant.

It also lauded the new reorganisation process to help rehabilitate financially distressed companies, and said the country had been leading the way for the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.

The only country in the region that ranked ahead of South Africa, was Mauritius, a long-established international financial services hot-spot, which took 23rd place on the list.

The top five economies where doing business was easiest were Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the United States, and Denmark.