Accra, Oct. 14, GNA - The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu has been given the Top Reforming African Country award by the World Bank in London.

The award, in a form of a glass shield is given to the best reforming economic system in Africa, a statement from the Ghana High Commission in London received in Accra on Sunday said.

The statement said he shares this year's honour jointly with the Finance Minister of Kenya, Mr Amos Kimunya and Finance Minister of Mauritius, Mr Ali Mansoor all of whom were present at the Unilever headquarters in London to receive the awards.

The ceremony, which formed part of a day's seminar of Doing Business 2008, organised by the World Bank, the U.K. Department of International Development (DFID), BusinessActionforAfrica with the support of Unilever was attended by leading World Bank officials and over 100 chief executives of transnational corporations.

The award presentations were done by the Vice President for Financial and Private Sector Development of the World Bank, Michael U. Klein, who praised the three ministers for steering their economies and business environments from rough roads to greater reform and growth. Mr Baah-Wiredu, with his award in right hand and the flag of Ghana in the left, said the reforms in Ghana had not only led to strategic legislations in the financial and procurement areas but also to general checks and balances in all over administration.

The reforms, he said, accounted partly for the growth in the economy but there was still much to be done even with over 60 per cent of targeted reforms having been carried out.
"It is not a one day business" he said, and thanked the World Bank and other development partners as well as those who had worked on reforms in Ghana for their dedication.
"The Doing Business" reviews, upon which the awards are given and for which Ghana previously placed as the ninth best country to do business, look at 10 areas of everyday business measurements: starting a business, dealing with licenses, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business.
The indicators are used to analyze reforms and business regulation, identifying which countries are improving their business environment the most and which ones slip.
They are also used to check economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why.