Nigeria's Vision 2020 has expressed a bold desire for the country to be among the world's top 20 economies by the year 2020. The economy has posted impressive growth figures since 2003, driven by higher oil revenues and a series of home-grown economic reforms. The country is now firmly on the road to middle-income status. But what else do government and the private sector need to do to create the jobs and growth that will underpin the national development strategy? What are the challenges that Nigeria's businesses face today? 'An Assessment of the Investment Climate in Nigeria' provides answers to these questions. Based on a survey of 2,300 companies, it provides evidence-based recommendations designed to support Vision 2020 and the president's seven-point agenda. The authors find that government must move quickly to create jobs and reduce poverty. Key challenges include a desperate shortage of energy and a poor transportation network, as well as low levels of education and continuing unrest in the Niger delta. In addition, Nigeria's workers need to become more productive in order to compete in a globalized economy. As a matter of fact, they are less productive than workers in more dynamic countries, such as Brazil, China, and Kenya. Improving productivity will require simultaneous efforts to foster competition, improve specific aspects of the business environment, and facilitate better management and training within individual firms. In addition to the issues of productivity, Nigeria's best firms have not been able to expand their market share. Consequently, policy makers need to address and elimate obstacles to competition, including barriers to entry, convoluted taxation, property registration, and licensing.

Although the circumstances in which Kenyan firms must do business have improved since 2004, including an increase in productivity, Kenyan firms still face an adverse business environment. 'An Assessment of the Investment Climate in Kenya' reports on the main impediments to productivity growth identified by managers of Kenyan businesses: -- Lack of access to financing. Despite a favorable lending regime, 90 percent of microenterprises and 60 percent of small firms in Kenya declared that they needed loans, compared to 40 percent of medium-sized and large firms. -- Corruption and crime. Seventy-five percent of firms in Kenya reported having to make informal payments to 'get things done'. This sort of corruption costs Kenyan firms approximately 4 percent of annual sales. In 2007, approximately one-third of Kenyan managers rated crime as a major business constraint. In addition, Kenyan companies lose 2.6 percent of their sales because of spoilage and theft during transportation. -- Unreliable infrastructure services. Transportation and energy remain significant bottlenecks. Close to 80 percent of firms in Kenya experience losses because of power interruptions. As a consequence, almost 70 percent of firms have generators, which are costly to obtain and operate. Managers also complained about taxes. Kenya has reduced corporate tax rates in recent years, but some objective indicators suggest that the country's tax burden remains higher than in most comparator countries. Given the potential impacts of high taxes high evasion and the presence of a large informal economic sector the report recommends a more detailed assessment of the effective rate of taxation. 'An Assessment of the Investment Climate in Kenya' recommends specific changes in each of these areas of constraint, as well as in the areas of transportation and regulatory reform. The book will be of interest to readers working in business and finance, economic policy, corproate governance, and poverty reduction."

A practical how-to guide on all the steps involved with survey implementation, this volume covers survey management, questionnaire design, sampling, respondent's psychology and survey participation, and data management. A comprehensive and practical reference for those who both use and produce survey data.