Protecting investors, shareholder suits index by country
Doing Business measures the strength of minority shareholder protections against directors’ misuse of corporate assets for personal gain. The indicators distinguish 3 dimensions of investor protection: transparency of transactions (extent of disclosure index), liability for self-dealing (extent of director...
What the numbers show
Protecting investors, shareholder suits index is currently reported for 50 countries. The highest value is 10 in Kenya; the lowest is 1 in Guinea.
The median across all reporting countries is 5, and the mean is 5.04.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 10.
Over the past decade 6 countries rose and 2 fell. The largest increase was in Morocco (up 500.0%), and the largest decrease in Sierra Leone (down 25.0%).
Protecting investors, shareholder suits index: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenya | 10 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 2 | Mozambique | 9 | 2012 | up 28.6% | rising |
| 2 | Mauritius | 9 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 4 | South Africa | 8 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 4 | Tanzania | 8 | 2012 | up 33.3% | rising |
| 4 | Lesotho | 8 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 7 | Zambia | 7 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 8 | Namibia | 6 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 8 | Sierra Leone | 6 | 2012 | down 25.0% | falling |
| 8 | Sao Tome and Principe | 6 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 8 | Madagascar | 6 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 8 | Morocco | 6 | 2012 | up 500.0% | volatile |
| 8 | Liberia | 6 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 8 | Eswatini | 6 | 2012 | up 20.0% | rising |
| 8 | Ghana | 6 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 8 | Angola | 6 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 8 | Cameroon | 6 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 8 | Cape Verde | 6 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 8 | Tunisia | 6 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 20 | Guinea-Bissau | 5 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 20 | Nigeria | 5 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 20 | Central African Republic | 5 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 20 | Uganda | 5 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 20 | Malawi | 5 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 20 | Comoros | 5 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 20 | Egypt | 5 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 20 | Eritrea | 5 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 20 | Ethiopia | 5 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 20 | Seychelles | 5 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 20 | Gambia | 5 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 31 | Togo | 4 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 31 | Zimbabwe | 4 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 31 | Burundi | 4 | 2012 | down 20.0% | falling |
| 31 | Burkina Faso | 4 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 31 | Mali | 4 | 2012 | up 33.3% | rising |
| 31 | Equatorial Guinea | 4 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 31 | Democratic Republic of Congo | 4 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 31 | Sudan | 4 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 31 | Algeria | 4 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 40 | Chad | 3 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 40 | Benin | 3 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 40 | Botswana | 3 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 40 | Cote d'Ivoire | 3 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 40 | Congo | 3 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 40 | Gabon | 3 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 40 | Mauritania | 3 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 40 | Niger | 3 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 40 | Rwanda | 3 | 2012 | up 200.0% | rising |
| 49 | Senegal | 2 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
| 50 | Guinea | 1 | 2012 | unchanged | flat |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
About this data
Doing Business measures the strength of minority shareholder protections against directors’ misuse of corporate assets for personal gain. The indicators distinguish 3 dimensions of investor protection: transparency of transactions (extent of disclosure index), liability for self-dealing (extent of director liability index) and shareholders’ ability to sue officers and directors for misconduct (ease of shareholder suits index). The data come from a survey of corporate lawyers and are based on company laws, court rules of evidence and securities regulations. For more information, visit http://www.doingbusiness.org/MethodologySurveys/.