The attractiveness of Kenya to investors enhanced in twelve positions. Such a statement was made by the World Bank latest ranking.
According to it, unhurried property registration process and issuance of construction permits have been still remaining the most significant problems in the Kenya economy.
In the 2017 ease of doing business index, the most prominent economy in East Africa finished 80th compared to 2016’s 92nd position, informs Tuko News.
In 2017, the country finished 80th in ease of doing business index that observed more than 190 countries in comparison to compared to position 92, in 2016. The new ranking had become the highest for Kenya since 2008 when its economy took 84th place. Therefore, after Mauritius (25th place) and Rwanda (41st position), Kenya is the third most competitive economy on the African continent.
“It is the country’s best performance in the last fifteen years. It completely reflects our unceasing improvement process that is a respectable indicator for global investors. We are delighted and will carry improving with the fullest involvement of our developing private sector,” Adan Mohamed, Trade and Industry secretary shared his joy.
The World Bank named the areas of Kenya economy which have shown the worst performance. Let us have a look at the most crucial ones.
The process of property registration (125th position), dealing in construction permits (124th), starting a business (117th) and trading across the borders (106th) has shown the worst performance, according to the World Bank survey 2017.
Therefore, on average, it takes 61 days for investors to register property in Kenya. Totally, there are nine various registration procedures.
It takes 159 days (just imagine!) to get approval for a construction permit (16 procedures).
Notwithstanding the new Companies Act becoming law, it still takes about 25 days to register an official business in Kenya.
Concerning trading across the borders, Kenya ranks low worldwide notwithstanding taking 20 hours an average in comparison to almost 100 hours in Africa. It is mainly because it takes up to 13 hours to put to an end the similar processes in countries with advanced economies.
Resolving insolvency (95th position), paying taxes (92nd place), and enforcing contracts (90th place) are the other fields where Kenya has been performing weak in 2017.
Alongside with this, Kenya is ranked best in opening credit (29th position), protecting the minority investors’ rights (62nd position), as well as getting electricity connection (71st position).
“Of course, one may not see the fast influence right away. However, some may begin appearing because the competition is increasing. Therefore, we should be sure that there is a steady development which will allow to set up more new businesses in the country businesses setting up,” Carole Kariuki, the CEO of Kenya Private Sector Alliance, emphasized.
According to the report, Kenya urgently needs to implement critical reforms which are required to start a business in the country. These are dealing with construction permits, accessing electricity, paying taxes, trading across the border for the country, and accessing credit. The mentioned successful reforms will allow the nation to progress its standing on the list significantly.
“In 2017, Kenya finally made beginning a business much easier by merging numerous procedures obligatory to start-up and officially operate a business,” the group announced in the report.
Elimination of 0.52% building tax by the National Construction Authority and removal of 0.15% of an environmental audit by the National Environmental Management made it less costly for investors.
According to the survey, paying of corporate income tax on iTax and the access to credit information has also improved in 2017. In 2017, single window system allows lessening the time for import documentation significantly. It permits electronic submission of various customs entries.
So, here we can make the following summary. Unhurried property registration process and issuance of construction permits have been still remaining the most significant problems in the Kenya economy. In 2017, the country finished 80th in ease of doing business index that observed more than 190 countries in comparison to compared to position 92, in 2016. The new ranking had become the highest for Kenya since 2008 when its economy took 84th position. Therefore, after Mauritius (25th position) and Rwanda (41st position), Kenya is the third most competitive economy on the African continent.
