By Wainaina Wambu
The World Bank has suspended the publication of a key annual report that
countries use to gauge their ease in attracting investors, pending a
probe on data irregularities.
The Doing Business report, started 17 years ago, is one of the most
quoted by government officials and examines the economies of 190
countries based on how easy it is to do business there.
In a statement, the
World Bank
said it would review data published in the last five years after
finding irregularities in the 2018 and 2020 reports that were
inconsistent with the doing business methodology.
“We are conducting a systematic review and assessment of data changes
that occurred subsequent to the institutional data review process for
the last five Doing Business reports,” said the global lender.
“We have asked the
World Bank Group’s
independent internal audit function to perform an audit of the
processes for data collection and review for Doing Business and the
controls to safeguard data integrity.”
The bank said the indicators and methodology had been designed with no
particular country in mind but rather help improve the overall business
climate.
It said it had notified authorities of countries most affected by the
data irregularities and, based on the findings, would correct the data.
“We will act based on the findings and will retrospectively correct the
data of countries that were most affected by the irregularities,” it
said.
For the reports with irregularities, Kenya moved 12 places up in the
2018 report to position 80 globally compared to 92 in the 2017 survey.
In the 2020 report, Kenya rose five places to stand at position 56.
Kenya has moved 80 places up in the reports since 2014 with their
release being welcomed with fanfare by senior government officials.
Last year, Deputy President William Ruto was present during the release of the 2020 Ease of Doing Business Index.
President Uhuru Kenyatta never fails to mention Kenya’s ranking in his
speeches as he lures investors into the country. The report is also a
popular talking point by officials from the Ministry of Trade.
Over the years, however, the rankings have been heavily scrutinised.
In 2018, Paul Romer quit as the World Bank’s chief economist after
questioning changes to Chile’s rank in the Doing Business report.
He said then that its methodology was politicised and manifested in Chile’s rankings, which mirrored its politics.
wwambu@standardmedia.co.ke
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