Benin Named Fastest Place to Start Business Online — Thanks to COVID  

COTONOU, BENIN - Benin set up a service early in the COVID-19 pandemic to allow people to register their business online, and now the West African country is the world's fastest place to start a business, according to a U.N. agency. 

Sandra Idossou, owner of a store selling art in Cotonou, Benin, submitted her business application online and received approval and legal documents within three hours.   She said if the e-registration system did not exist and she instead had to go stand in line to start a business, she never would have done it.  To create her business, Idossou went online to monentreprise.bj, a platform in Benin to create and formally start a business. The site was launched in February 2020 by the country's Investment and Export Promotion Agency, which did not want people to come into their offices during the pandemic.