The B-READY Index: The New Compass for Foreign Investment — Will Egypt Be Present in the 2026 Edition?
- Nadim Samna
- Jul 8
- 4 min read
Egypt was absent from the 2025 edition of the World Bank's Business Ready (B-READY) Index, a benchmark covering 101 economies worldwide. In a world where foreign investors — sovereign funds, institutional investors, and multinational corporations alike — increasingly base their decisions on comparative indicators of this kind, that absence is far more than a statistical footnote. It represents a real gap in how Egypt's investment case is presented to international capital.
In this interview, Nadim Samna, investment and strategy expert and member of the Egyptian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (EPEA), explains what this new index measures — and why Egypt's relevant authorities should work to secure the country's inclusion in the upcoming edition.
Why do these international rankings matter in the first place?
These rankings are among the primary tools a foreign investor relies on before committing capital to any market. No institutional investor, sovereign fund, or multinational company makes an investment decision in isolation from indicators of this kind, which offer a comparative, objective picture of the business environment in a target market relative to alternative destinations. Egypt's presence or absence in these reports, and its relative position, therefore has a direct and measurable impact on foreign direct investment flows.
From "Doing Business" to "B-READY": what has changed?
The World Bank first published its Doing Business report in 2003, and for nearly two decades it served as the near-universal reference for ranking countries on ease of doing business. The World Bank discontinued the report in 2021 following internal reviews that raised concerns about its methodology and the objectivity of some of its data. It has since been replaced by an entirely new framework, B-READY, whose first edition was released in 2024.
The new index rests on three main pillars: the regulatory and legal framework, the public services provided to businesses, and the efficiency of operations on the ground. These pillars cover ten thematic areas that follow a firm's lifecycle — from business entry, to location, utilities, labor, financial services, international trade, taxation, dispute resolution, market competition, and insolvency procedures. Importantly, each of the ten areas also measures three cross-cutting dimensions: digital transformation, environmental sustainability, and gender.
A new tool: the "Workforce and Growth Matrix"
One of the index's most significant additions is the Workforce and Growth Matrix, which classifies economies along two dimensions: the share of youth in the population, and the medium-term rate of economic growth, measured by average GDP growth over the past ten years.
This intersection defines each country's actual priorities with precision. A country with a young population and strong economic growth, for instance, needs above all to channel that growth into creating more and better jobs, while the priorities differ fundamentally for a country with low growth and a similarly young population.
Why is the index described as highly precise?
The index draws on roughly 1,200 sub-indicators across its ten thematic areas. What sets them apart is their granularity: they address highly specific procedures and are largely framed as binary yes/no questions, designed to minimize subjective or impressionistic interpretation. For example: is there a mandatory requirement to approve a company's name upon incorporation? Is electronic payment available for tax services?
Crucially, many of these indicators also distinguish between domestic and foreign-owned firms — a distinction that matters greatly to any foreign investor evaluating a new market, since it reveals the real differences in treatment they may encounter.
Where does Egypt stand today?
Egypt was absent from the 2025 edition of the report, which covered 101 economies worldwide. This absence deprives Egypt of an objective benchmark before international investors at a time when the country is actively working to attract greater foreign direct investment.
The road to the 2026 edition
There is a clear two-track path forward. The first concerns technical readiness: Egyptian ministries and relevant authorities should proactively meet the data requirements to secure Egypt's inclusion in the full 2026 edition. The second, and more important, track is proactive reform on the specific themes and indicators where Egypt faces the greatest challenges — through concrete initiatives that address weaknesses before they are reflected in the final ranking.
Beyond the ranking: the real value of the index
The real value of this type of ranking lies not only in its function as an external evaluation tool, but as a guide for shaping public policy itself. A deep analysis of these indicators can direct Egyptian policymakers toward specific, measurable reform priorities — genuinely improving the business environment, rather than pursuing a better ranking as an end in itself.
About the author
Nadim Samna is an investment and strategy expert with over 20 years of experience across roughly 20 countries in the MENA and Africa regions. He is affiliated with Stratexis and Corporate Value Associates (CVA), with prior experience at Oliver Wyman and Kurt Salmon, and is a member of the Egyptian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (EPEA).
About Stratexis
Stratexis advises both foreign investors and local authorities on navigating Egypt's investment landscape — from market entry strategy and regulatory due diligence for international capital, to policy design and reform advisory for government and public-sector institutions seeking to strengthen the country's competitiveness. This dual vantage point — sitting alongside investors evaluating Egypt, and alongside the institutions shaping the environment they invest into — is at the core of how Stratexis supports Egypt's economic development agenda.
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