The World Bank delays 2021 Doing Business report

The latest New World Wealth report on wealth migration, published in collaboration with AfrAsia bank, highlights ease of doing business as a motivating factor for High Net-Worth Individuals (HNWIs) to relocate to other countries.

For that reason, Mauritius is among those that attract a steady number of HNWIs, many of whom invest in luxury island property. The Indian Ocean island is ranked first in Africa and 13th worldwide in the World Bank’s 2020 Doing Business Report.

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It is interesting to note that New Zealand, Singapore and the US all feature among the top countries that attract HNWIs and score well in the report. New Zealand is the top scorer for ease of doing business with 86.8 points, compared to Mauritius with 81.5.

Australia, which leads the countries attracting HNWIs, is just behind Mauritius for ease of doing business with a score of 81.2. South Africa is in 84th place among 190 countries rated according to strict criteria. Or are they?

“Over the past 17 years, the Doing Business report has been a valuable tool for many countries seeking to benchmark the business regulatory environment. The Doing Business indicators and methodology are designed to help countries to generate reform momentum to improve the overall business climate,” says David Theis, spokesperson for the Bank.

An investigation into data irregularities in the Doing Business 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 report cycles has led to a revision of the scorings for Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and China. “We will be completing the arrangements for the publication of the Doing Business 2021 report in the coming months, incorporating the data corrections noted above. We will address the findings of these various reviews in this and future Doing Business reports.”

Some of the other countries that vie for foreign investment into luxury island property through citizenship and investment programmes, and are included in the Doing Business rankings, are Portugal (39th place), Malta (88th) and Seychelles (100th).