South Africa fell two places in the latest Doing Business report, published by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and currently ranked at 34 out of 183 countries.

The annual survey analyses regulations that apply to an economy's businesses; including dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business.

The IFC said that between June 2008 and June 2009, 131 of the participating countries instituted 287 reforms in an effort to ease investment in the respective countries. Sixty-seven of these reforms were recorded in 29 sub-Saharan Africa countries.

South Africa made only one reform - easing the tax burden on businesses by abolishing the stamp duty.

The World Bank group's financial and private sector development vice presidency's acting vice-president, Penelope Brook, noted that areas where South Africa was still experiencing some difficulties was in registering property and in trading across borders.

Rwanda, which was previously ranked 143, jumped a staggering 76 places, and was currently listed at number 67. The country was also identified as the top global reformer, issuing reforms in seven out of the 10 areas studied by the 'Doing Business' report.

The areas of reform included the closing of business, employing workers, getting credit, protecting investors, registering property, starting a business, and trading across borders.

Rwanda improved the ease of doing business by improving the process for dealing with distressed companies with a new law aimed at streamlining reorganisation. Employing workers was made easier by abolishing the maximum duration for fixed-term contracts, and allowing unlimited renewals of such contracts, as well as by allowing redundancy procedures to be more flexible.

Getting credit was also made easier with a new secured transactions act and insolvency act to make secured lending more flexible, allowing a wider range of assets to be used as collateral. A new company law has also strengthened investor protections by requiring greater corporate disclosure, director liability, and shareholder access to information.

Mauritius was also classed as the top sub-Saharan economy in terms of the overall ease of doing business, for the second year in a row. The country ranked seventeenth out of the 183 economies covered by the report, and during the year under review, adopted new insolvency laws, established a specialised commercial division within the court, eased property transfers and expedited trade processes.

Liberia, which was classified as the second-fastest reforming economy in the region, eased procedures for business start-up, reduced fees for construction permits, and sped trade with a new one-stop centre.

The IFC stated that Sierra Leone also introduced company law that strengthened investor protections, enhanced access to credit, and provided for the reorganisation of troubled firms. It also established a one-stop centre for business registration.

"Rwanda and Mauritius are providing a road map for economies in Africa that are serious about making significant improvements in investment climate. Liberia and Sierra Leone are providing models for how countries coming out of conflict situations can use the power of the private sector to bring capital and confidence to rebuild their market," said IFC vice-president for sub-Saharan Africa and Western Europe's global manufacturing industry cluster, Thierry Tanoh.

The 'Doing Business 2010' also noted that during the year, there were four new reformers among the global top ten, which now included Liberia, the United Arab Emirates, Tajikistan, and Moldova.

The top ten countries on the ease of doing business list are as follows: Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong, the US, the UK, Denmark, Ireland, Canada, Australia and Norway.

Brook noted that it has been proven that good business regulation could speed up economic crisis response, and that efficient and transparent regulation made it easier for firms to adjust, and for new businesses to start up.

She also noted that there were still several opportunities for improvement, and that there were many good practices in the region to learn from.

"Mauritius is in the world's top ten in starting a business, South Africa stands out on getting credit and protecting investors, and Tanzania leads the way in Africa for enforcing contracts."

Consistent reform worked best, she added, as it assisted in pursuing long-term strategies, staying proactive, and following a clear path while reacting to economic realities.

The 'Doing Business' report analyses regulations that apply to an economy's businesses during their life cycles. However, the report does not measure all aspects of the business environment that matter to firms and investors, such as security, macroeconomic stability, corruption, skill levels, or the strength of the financial system.