Doing Business is a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 178 economies—from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe—and over time. Regulations affecting 10 stages of a business’s life are measured: starting a business, dealing with licenses, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business.

The Doing Business project has joined forces with the World Bank Group Gender Action Plan to launch a two-year research program on reforms that improve business opportunities for women. The project is identifying legal and regulatory barriers facing businesswomen, compiling a data base of relevant laws for each country, and determining reforms that are likely to have the biggest benefits for women.

Doing Business: Women in Africa is the first in a series of regional reports designed to showcase successful women entrepreneurs and explore how they overcame obstacles to business creation and growth. The seven women profiled here represent countries from across the continent. Their generosity in sharing their stories, their successes and the obstacles they faced pave the way for more opportunities for other women entrepreneurs.

Read full report.