The ease of conducting business in Africa has significantly impacted the number of companies launched recently. It is not by coincidence that the three countries with the most newly registered businesses on the continent, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya are also three of the leading regional economic centers in West Africa (first with 70,000 businesses launched annually); Southern Africa (second with 70,000 business launched annually); and East Africa (third with 22,000 business launched annually).

A suitable business environment, supporting industries, and governmental and private institutions are fundamental requirements for starting and doing business. As of 2023, Mauritius was the best African country to possess such facilities to accommodate businesses, whose score for facilitating business enterprises stood at 81.5%. Rwanda, Morocco, and Kenya followed, exceeding 73%.

Mauritius is the 13th best country in the world where to open and facilitate business enterprises. The majority of the rest of the African countries scored between 50% and 60% in that regard. Less business-supportive countries were the Republic of the Congo, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Africa, South Sudan, and Libya, as those countries’ scores did not exceed 40%. This made them unsuitable environments for conducting business, as most essential requirements were missing to carry out business easily. Somalia and Eritrea scored 20% and 21.6%, respectively, making them the least African countries to facilitate businesses in Africa and worldwide.

In addition to the growing entrepreneurship and new business formation in Africa, demographically, the continent has one of the most youthful populations and a growing labor pool that has encouraged both new business start-ups and expanded investment. Young people in Africa aged 15 to 25 represent more than 60% of the continent’s total population and 45% of its overall labor force. By 2040, it is estimated that the continent’s labor force will be 1 billion strong in 2040. It is also important to note that Africa’s economic growth has accelerated because of improving overall governance. Over the past decade, increasing policy and regulatory reforms have made it easier to do business.