This regional profile presents the DoingBusiness indicators for economies in Southern AfricanDevelopment Community (SADC). It also shows the regionalaverage, the best performance globally for each indicatorand data for the following comparator regions: East Asia andthe Pacific, Economic Community of West African States,European Union, Middle East and North Africa, andOrganization for the Harmonization of Business Law inAfrica. The data in this report are current as of June 1,2013, except for the paying taxes indicators, which coverthe period January to December 2012. Regional Doing Businessreports capture differences in business regulations andtheir enforcement across countries in a single region. Theyprovide data on the ease of doing business, rank eachlocation, and recommend reforms to improve performance ineach of the indicator areas. The report sheds light on howeasy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open andrun a small to medium-size business when complying withrelevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes inregulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of abusiness: starting a business, dealing with constructionpermits, getting electricity, registering property, gettingcredit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading acrossborders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency andemploying workers. Doing Business presents quantitativeindicators on business regulations and the protection ofproperty rights that can be compared across 189 economies,from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. The data set covers47 economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, 33 in Latin America andthe Caribbean, 25 in East Asia and the Pacific, 25 inEastern Europe and Central Asia, 20 in the Middle East andNorth Africa and 8 in South Asia, as well as 31 OECDhigh-income economies. The indicators are used to analyzeeconomic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked,where and why.