On September 16, 2021 the World Bank announced the end of their publication the Doing Business Report (DBR) after a review that was sparked by “ data irregularities” that were found and the “internal reports raised ethical matters, including the conduct of former Board officials as well as current and/or former Bank staff, management reported the allegations to the Bank’s appropriate internal accountability mechanisms” according to the World Bank’s statement World Bank Group to Discontinue Doing Business Report. It continues “After reviewing all the information available to date on Doing Business, including the findings of past reviews, audits, and the report the Bank released today on behalf of the Board of Executive Directors, World Bank Group management has taken the decision to discontinue the Doing Business report.
Oakland Institute’s A Landmark Victory: World Bank Finally Ends Its Destructive and Corrupt Doing Business Report notes that “internal audits and reviews into the report […] revealed serious ethical concerns of data manipulation” leading to inaccurate scorecard rankings and helped orchestrate “a race to the bottom” by dismantling “labor rights, social and environmental safeguards” in the hopes of “attracting private investors.”
The Africa Faith and Justice Network’s policy analyst Jacques Bahati’s will discuss the significance of this news on YouTube September 20, 2021 at 2:00 pm ET (US and Canada).