Botswana

Ease of Doing Business in

Botswana

This page summarizes Doing Business 2013 data for Botswana. The first table lists the overall "Ease of Doing Business" rank (out of 185 economies) and the rankings by each topic. It also lists the economy's distance to frontier (DTF)** measure. The rest of the tables summarize the key indicators for each topic and benchmark against regional and high-income economy (OECD) averages.

Economy Overview

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Economy Summary
Starting a Business
Dealing with Construction Permits
Getting Electricity
Registering Property
Getting Credit
Protecting Investors
Paying Taxes
Trading Across Borders
Enforcing Contracts
Resolving Insolvency
Region Sub-Saharan Africa
Income Category Upper middle income
Population 2,030,738
GNI Per Capita (US$) 7,480
Doing Business 2013 Rank Doing Business 2012 Rank Change in Rank
59 58 down -1

Doing Business 2013 DTF** (% points) Doing Business 2012 DTF** (% points) Improvement in DTF** (% points)
66.2 65.8 down 0.4
Topic Rankings DB 2013 Rank DB 2012 Rank Change in Rank
Starting a Business 99 96 up -3
Dealing with Construction Permits 132 131 up -1
Getting Electricity 90 90 No change
Registering Property 51 51 No change
Getting Credit 53 52 up -1
Protecting Investors 49 46 up -3
Paying Taxes 39 38 up -1
Trading Across Borders 147 152 up 5
Enforcing Contracts 68 66 up -2
Resolving Insolvency 29 30 up 1

Economy Profile

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Additional Data

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Starting a Business

Info

The challenges of launching a business are shown below. Included are: the number of steps entrepreneurs can expect to go through to launch, the time it takes on average, and the cost and minimum capital required as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita.

DB 2013 Rank 99 DB 2012 Rank 96 Change in Rank down-3
DB 2013 DTF** (% points) 71.0 DB 2012 DTF** (% points) 71.0 Improvement in DTF** (% points) 0.0
YearNew business densityNumber of new limited liability companies
2011 9.4412,217
Indicator Botswana Sub-Saharan Africa OECD

The total number of procedures required to register a firm. A procedure is defined as any interaction of the company founders with external parties (for example, government agencies, lawyers, auditors or notaries).

View methodology Procedures (number)
10 8 5

The total number of days required to register a firm. The measure captures the median duration that incorporation lawyers indicate is necessary to complete a procedure with minimum follow-up with government agencies and no extra payments.

View methodology Time (days)
61 34 12

Cost is recorded as a percentage of the economy’s income per capita. It includes all official fees and fees for legal or professional services if such services are required by law.

View methodology Cost (% of income per capita)
1.6 67.3 4.5

The amount that the entrepreneur needs to deposit in a bank or with a notary before registration and up to 3 months following incorporation and is recorded as a percentage of the economy’s income per capita.

View methodology Paid-in Min. Capital (% of income per capita)
0.0 116.0 13.3
No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Select and reserve company name 3 days BWP 20
2 Sign the declaration of compliance of statutory requirements for incorporation before a commissioner for oaths 1 day BWP 75
3 Return the complete statutory return to the Registrar of Companies about re-allotment, directors, auditors, company secretary, and registered officers 1 day BWP 300 by self, and a fee of BWP 2000 where registration is done by agent
4 Register the company with the Registrar of Companies at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry 2-3 weeks BWP 360 (Registration of constitution)
5 Advertise the intention of applying for a license in the official gazette 3 weeks BWP 80
* 6 Obtain an approval of the working condition after an inspection of company premises 2 days,( simultaneous with procedure 6) As part of the application procedure the firm’s premises will be inspected by the health and environmental authorities to ensure compliance with minimum standards. The cost would be no charge as this Procedure is done by the municipal authorities as part of the application Procedure for a trading license or an industrial license.
* 7 Obtain an industrial license from the Industrial Affairs Department, Ministry of Commerce and Industry; or obtain a trading license from the local authority 3 weeks ( simultaneous with procedure 5 ) BWP 100 for industrial license if applied by self; BWP 1,500 by agent; BWP 60 for trade license if applied by self, BWP 2,000 by an agent
8 Register for Corporate Income Tax number with the Botswana United Revenue Services and obtain the approval from the Commissioner of Taxes for the appointment of a public officer who is in charge of tax return 7 days no charge by self, BWP 1,500 by agent
9 Register for VAT with Director of Customs & Excise 7 days no charge by self, BWP 1,500 by agent
10 Register employees for the work injury insurance 1 day no charge
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.

** The distance to frontier (DTF) measure shows the distance of each economy to the "frontier," which represents the highest performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies included in Doing Business since each indicator was included in Doing Business. An economy’s distance to frontier is indicated on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest performance and 100 the frontier. Read more...

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