Egypt still ranks 112th on the World Bank's ease-of-doing-business index (see chart), behind Zambia and Swaziland.
Mr Zoellick hopes to sign a trade deal this year with southern Africa, which could be expanded to other bits of the continent.Negotiations for a trade deal between America and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU, composed of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland) began a year ago, but start in earnest on February 23rd.
In Swaziland, elected MPs have no powers other than the right to advise the unelected king.
The event has not turned Swazis republican, but it has provoked grumbles: "We thought the king was a father to us all, but it seems that he only looks after his own family".Even a backwater like Swaziland cannot hide from the modern world indefinitely.
A recent law, crafted to crush labour unions, violated an international convention that Swaziland has signed.
"It's not hectic," admits Sipho Dlamini, the director.The same could be said of Swaziland.
Farm expansion is hobbled by the fact that the king owns most land "in trust" for the nation, and can evict tillers on a whim.Nowhere in Swaziland is more than a short bus ride from richer, more democratic, South Africa.
Alex Vines, who helped write a report on Swaziland for Chatham House, a London-based think-tank, asked many Swazis what they thought the king meant.
In return it says nice things about its benefactor at the UN and stays out of China's circle of African allies.Not that there is much in Swaziland to interest China.
Burundi, Swaziland and Rwanda have all recorded growth of more than 25% a year in services exports between 1995 and 2008.
AFTER a decade on the drawing board, Swaziland at last has a new constitution.
