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The country moved 28 positions up from position 136 last year to 108 out of 189 countries ranked in the report yearly/DPPS

Kenya

Kenya 3rd most improved globally in WB business report

The country moved 28 positions up from position 136 last year to 108 out of 189 countries ranked in the report yearly/DPPS

The country moved 28 positions up from position 136 last year to 108 out of 189 countries ranked in the report yearly/DPPS

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 28 – Kenya is the third most improved country globally in the latest World Bank Doing Business Report 2016, the best improvement in the last 10 years.

The country moved 28 positions up from position 136 last year to 108 out of 189 countries ranked in the report yearly.

According to the report, four reforms that positively impacted on the business regulatory environment and higher ranking were in the areas of getting credit, accessing electricity, starting a business and registering property.

“While we celebrate this significant progress, Kenya is confident that the monumental series of Acts and Bills signed recently will transform Kenya’s business climate by improving the ease of doing business further as well as suit the needs of modern business in a way boosting our ongoing efforts to improve in the next index,” Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto said while launching the report in Nairobi on Wednesday.

The getting credit indicator improved upwards from 118 to position 28 which the World Bank Group attributed to wide coverage by the Credit Reference Bureau.

Getting electricity was also a big winner from 128 to 26 following Kenya’s connectivity initiative aimed to enhance access to power. Electricity connection procedures have dropped to three from six, reducing the number of days it takes to get electricity connection to businesses from 158 to 110 days.

In starting a business, the reforms made in improving the area of stamp duty has reduced the number of days it takes to register a business from 30 to 26 days.

The government expects the ongoing digitization and automation efforts to further reduce the number days it takes to register a business.

“Forty percent of start-ups registered during the period under review benefitted from digitised regulatory processes through the e-citizen portal and mobile technology. Enactment of the Companies Act 2015 will revolutionise needs of modern Kenyan businesses,” Industrialisation Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed said.

In registering property, digitisation of land records at the Nairobi’s Land Registry was cited for reduction of customer interactions points and spurring efficient service delivery.

Arising from the process of re-engineering, three processes namely applications for consent to transfer, land rent clearance and valuation for stamp duty have been combined to shorten the time, reducing the number of procedures from 9 to 6.

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On trading across borders, the report credited Kenya for rolling out the national single window, an electronic system enhancing goods clearance at border points.

The report ranks countries based on 10 factors such as ease of starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.

In the World Bank Doing Business Report 2015, Kenya dropped 60 places in dealing with construction permits to position 95 from position 35 owing to increase in building permit fees, slowing its ranking.

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