Seventy two. That’s how many hours it takes to register a business in Guinea, which is a far cry from last year’s global average of 22 days. In fact, this speedy procedure will result in more than 4 000 SMEs being created in the West African country this year, according to the Private Investment Promotion Agency, known by its French acronym APIP.

The drop in the amount of time needed to legally establish a business to under a week is set to lift the economy, according to a Mail & Guardian report.

Other African nations have also loosened the red tape – only five days are required to start up a business in Liberia and Burundi, for example, while in Mauritius it takes six.

However, some Central African countries have convoluted bureaucratic procedures for entrepreneurs, with 135 days required in Equatorial Guinea, 53 in Congo and 50 in Gabon.

Meanwhile, Southern African countries have a mixture of both – 90 days are required in Zimbabwe, 66 in Namibia and 60 in Botswana – while start-ups need 19 days in South Africa, 13 in Mozambique and eight in Madagascar to comply with the paperwork.

25 August 2015
Image: Gallo/GettyImages