While the country’s business climate is showing tentative signs of recovery in 2025, with the Business Climate Index rising slightly from 58.75 in 2024 to 59.69 this year, such a modest improvement, despite the challenges we continue to face as a nation, does not inspire confidence.
Indeed, while on the surface, it looks like we may be turning things around, the issues in our business culture remain the same as ever, and collectively points to a stagnated rather than improved business culture that demands urgent attention if we are to have any hope with regard to sustaining economic growth and attracting investments.
While we cannot ignore the impact that the overall uncertainty of the global economic environment is having on our businesses, that we continue to lag behind in critical areas such as technology adoption and regulatory transparency is most disappointing. These, coupled with inflationary pressures that seem to be never-ending and the incessant supply chain disruptions all point to one thing – our economy experiencing a robust revival seems a distant dream.
It goes without saying that incremental gains are insufficient to sustain our march towards our ambitions – be that our imminent graduation from a least developed country or establishing ourselves as a growing middle-income nation.
To that end, the time for complacency is long gone, with an urgent need to confront long-standing structural issues to our business climate with renewed vigour.
Embracing and incorporating technology, enhancing transparency, and encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship are imperatives. We cannot continue to be an economy defined by its persistent fragility. We must transform this narrative into one where decisive reforms created a nation for sustainable investment.
