World Bank Scraps Doing Business Report

Sep 18 , 2021

The World Bank ceases publishing its annual Doing Business Report, after irregularities were discovered in the reports published in 2018 and 2020. The report was among policy tools adopted by authorities in Ethiopia. The irregularities initiated a series of internal reviews and audits as well as brought up ethical concerns. Following this, the Bank's management has decided to discontinue the report. "Going forward, we will be working on a new approach to assessing the business and investment climate," reads a statement from the group. Improving the Ease of Doing Business ranking to achieving a rank below 100 was part of the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's economic reforms introduced in 2018. Ethiopia ranked 159th out of 190 in the 2020 Doing Business Report, while neighbouring Kenya ranked 56th.