Innovation in business registration
Simon White | This article considers improvements in business registration in South Africa.
Business Environment Reform
Simon White | Specialist in policies and programs for more enabling business environments.
UK Government’s Better Regulation Manual and Red Tape Challenge
In July 2013 the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills published the Better Regulation Framework Manual. This manual is intended for policy-makers, as well as economists, social researchers, lawyers and those specialising in better regulation. It contains guidance for those who are involved in developing or implementing policies
Lebanon's business environment
A perspective on Lebanon’s business environment that draws largely from the World Bank’s Doing Business indicators: “The red lines in the Lebanese flag extend to its business environment“.
In a linked article, the broader concerns of political instability are raised. It brings up the common question regarding the
New guidelines on industrial policy and business environment reform
The Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED) has just published guidelines for donor and development agencies on how to complement business environment reforms with industrial policy. I was the principal author of this document, which was based on a background paper and on broad consultation with members of the DCED
Re-regulating business licensing in South Africa
In March and April this year, the South African Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and its minister, Rob Davies, found themselves in a storm of protest over the attempt to introduce a new law on business licensing – Government Notice 231 of 2013. Critics of the draft bill complained it
Doing business in the "worst" state of Nigeria
Last month I had the opportunity to visit Ogun State in Nigeria and to look at how the Ogun State Government approaches the business sector. It’s a pretty bleak picture, but there are signs of change and there are many state commissioners and senior civil servants who are promoting
The enabling city: places of social innovation
“Social innovation thrives on the ideas and efforts of social entrepreneurs and creative individuals whose socially conscious work contributes to environmentalism in a variety of ways”, writes Chiara Camponeschi in her 2010 e-book, The Enabling City; Place-Based Creative Problem-Solving and the Power of the Everyday. Here, the